Main content

Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP

Kirsty Young interviews the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles. After flirting with Communism in his teens he joined the Conservative party and enjoyed a heady rise through local politics, heading up Bradford City Council in the 1990s. He tells Kirsty about his early life above a shop in Keighley, how Mrs Thatcher got him an interview to be a candidate for MP, and how a prolonged hug from David Cameron softened the blow of a disastrous appearance on Question Time.

Producer: Alison Hughes.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Dec 2012 09:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

More episodes

Previous

Dustin Hoffman

Next

Sister Wendy Beckett

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Giacomo Puccini

      E Lucevan Le Stelle

      Performer: Jose Carreras / ROH Sir Colin Davis

      • Puccini: Tosca.
      • Philips.

  • Miles Davis

    So What

    • Kind of Blue.
    • CBS.

  • Louis Armstrong

    When The Saints Go Marching In

    • Louis Armstrong in Prague.
    • Panton.

  • Igor Stravinsky

    The Harbingers of Spring (from The Rite Of Spring)

    Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra / Bernard Haitink

    • Stavinsky: The Great Ballets.
    • Philips Classics.

  • Chris Rea

    Reasons

    • Wired to the Moon.
    • Atlantic.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    N. 10 Terzettino: β€œSoave sia il vento”

    Performer: Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Don Alfonso, Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Bohm

    • Cosi Fan Tutte.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.

  • Mary Chapin Carpenter

    I Take My Chances

    • Party Doll and other Favourites.
    • Columbia.

  • Benjamin Britten

    First Sea Interlude

    Performer: ROH Sir Colin Davis, Peter Grimes

    • Britten: Peter Grimes – Vickers / Harper / Summers / Royal Opera House / Davis.
    • Philips.

  • Book Choice

    • If This Be A Man - Primo Levi

  • Luxury Choice

    • Kettle, tea service & container of Earl Grey tea

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Eric Pickles

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 Dec 2012 11:15
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 14 Dec 2012 09:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast