One boy, two Bills and a fry up : a memoir of growing up and getting on /
Wes Streeting.
- vii, 311 pages : illustrations, photographs (black and white)
"Wes Streeting owes his life to a fry up. And much the story of his childhood years to the two Bills who were his grandfathers. He might have ended up in prison rather than in parliament. His maternal grandfather Bill was an unsuccessful armed robber who spent time behind bars, as did his maternal grandmother, who gave birth to his mother while she was there and shared a cell with Christine Keeler. His other adored grandfather Bill was a strong East End patriot and a lover of books and education, who did much to inspire his grandson. Brought up on a Stepney council estate, the young Streeting saw his teenage parents struggle to provide for him. In this touching memoir he reveals the humiliation that this caused for him and his family as his mother and father chose whether to feed the meter and heat the flat, put carpet on the floor, or food on the table. He vividly describes the help and inspiration he received from the great characters in his wider family and from inspiring teachers which ultimately set him on the way to Cambridge and then Parliament. He recounts the challenges of coming out as a gay Christian to family and friends and the battle he has now won with kidney cancer which has helped him to understand what an incredible journey he has been on. Honest, funny, unflinching Streeting shares the challenges of growing up in poverty, and his optimism that poverty is a trap that we can escape - a conviction which now informs everything about his mission in politics."--
9781399710107
GBC375281 bnb
021025698 Uk
Streeting, Wes, subject.
Legislators--Biography.--Great Britain Politicians--Biography.--Great Britain--21st century