Conversation with... Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke

Ken Clarke is one of the longest serving MPs in England. In Parliament for over four decades, he served the Heath, Thatcher, Major and Cameron administrations. Respected by all sides of the parliamentary divide, his views on the economy, law and order, and Europe are occasionally controversial but always important and informed. After becoming a barrister, Clarke was drawn by the call of politics. He unsuccessfully fought the safe Labour seat of Mansfield before winning Rushcliffe near his home of Nottingham, a seat he would go on to occupy for over 40 years.