Mark Pack is head of innovations for the Liberal Democrats. He blogs at www.libdemvoice.org.

When did you join your political party?

1989.


What is your earliest political memory?

People wearing “I’m for Ted” campaign badges for Ted Heath and the Conservatives in 1974. It took me a while to realise the badges were being worn by Conservatives rather than by fans of teddy bears!


Which one law would you repeal?

The ID cards legislation.


Which one law would you introduce?

Electoral reform for the House of Commons, as it would totally change the work politics works in our country.


What’s your favourite view in the world?

The view out over the Pacific Ocean as you head out from Sydney Harbour on a boat.


What’s your favourite political quotation?

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle


If you could have been present at any debate in the House of Commons over the last three hundred years, which would it have been , and why?

The first Reform Bill debate, which resulted in a tiny one vote majority for the bill to overhaul how the Commons is elected. One of those occasions where the actual debate almost certainly made a major difference to what happened to the country for years to come.


Imagine you are planning a dinner party, pick six people (living or dead) to invite

Richard Feynman (the scientist) Paul Merton (the comedian) Elizabeth Armistead (a fantastic source of eighteenth century gossip and latterly wife of Charles James Fox) Anthony Price (the author) Queen Elizabeth I (the, er…, Queen) William Woodings (author of the key Liberal Party election manual of the early twentieth century)


What’s your favourite form of transport?

Small ferries.


What’s your favourite dish?

Chocolate cheesecake.


Do you have any phobias?

Snakes.


What do you dream about?

The past.


When did you last cry, and why?

When reading an account of the 7/7 London bombs.


What’s the last thing you bought in a shop?

Chocolate.


What’s the funniest You Tube video you’ve recently seen?

This one.


What is the best speech you have ever heard (and been present at)?

Paddy Ashdown’s farewell speech to party conference after he stepped down as party leader. Describing the party as “the pride and purpose of my life” wonderfully sums up how a successful leader has to view their party.


Who’s your favourite comedian?

Paul Merton, although though Wayne Brady on the US version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? runs him very close.


Which is your favourite political biography or autobiography?

David Stockman, Triumph of Politics.


What is your favourite novel?

Karel Capek’s War with the Newts, a satirical SF novel from the 1930s. Although nominally science fiction, it is really a satire on politics and society that still bites and is brilliantly written.


Name a book you have read which has failed to live up to expectations

Robert Littlell’s Legends. Read it after discovering his fantastic The Defection of AJ Lewinter. I therefore had great hopes, but I’d say that Legends is only ok: not bad, but not in the same league as the other.


What job would you be doing if you weren’t involved in the political world?

Advising others on how to make use of the internet.


Do you have a party trick, or hidden talent?

Making electricity from cutlery.


What’s the best holiday you have been on?

Visiting my sister and her family in Sydney.


Where in the world would you most like to go on holiday?

Travelling across the huge open spaces of Canada.


When was the last time you used public transport?

Earlier today.


What do you collect?

Election leaflets.


What is your most unusual hobby?

A relatively new one I guess: reading books with “roundabout” in their title. A form of lucky dip that broadens my reading patterns.


Which newspapers do you read regularly?

Prefer to read newspapers whose editorial line I disagree with as it helps stop you slipping into complacent thought patterns, but actually read very few now - more usually read collections of cuttings.


Which websites do you visit regularly?

Politics Home, Liberal Democrat Voice, Iain Dale, Lynne Featherstone’s blog, BBC News, Political Betting, Quidco, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and too many others!


Which blogs do you love or hate?

There are plenty of better things in life to love and hate than mere blogs (sorry fellow bloggers!).


Which magazines do you subscribe to?

The Week: all the best of the week’s newspapers and magazines in one succinct publication.


Which five words would your friends use about you?

Organised. Relentless. Dependable. Hard-working. Chocaholic.


Which five words would your enemies use about you?

Obsessive. Pedantic. Annoying. Repetitive. Effective.


Are you into sport? If so, which ones?

Not really, though the Tour de France grabs my interest most years.


Who is your favourite football team and player?

I’m a very occasional fan of Arsenal and Dennis Bergkamp at his height was a reason to watch Match of the Day every week for his next moment of genius.


Who is your political hero?

I’m not a great one for idolising politicians from the past, but give me Henry Campbell Bannerman, winner of landslide election and leader of a successful government, over Asquith and Lloyd George, who split their party and nearly drove it into oblivion, any day.


Who is your political hate figure?

Robert Mugabe.


What’s your most memorable time in politics?

Winning Muswell Hill ward in the 1998 Haringey Council elections; the first campaign I’d directly run myself. Getting a huge swing and electing the first three ever Liberal Democrat councillors in the borough was a happy outcome!


What’s your most embarrassing moment in politics?

Best not repeated in public.


What’s your prediction for the next general election?

The online results coverage will be much better than the traditional media.


Who is your favourite and least favourite political interviewer?

Jeremy Paxman and Jeremy Paxman.


What do you never miss on TV?

Doctor Who.


Which current foreign politician do you most admire?

The many unnamed members of the MDC who continue to oppose Mugabe despite the widespread violence against them.


What do you listen to / watch when you get up in the morning?

Radio 4.


Complete this sentence: The thing I hate about politics is...

... the obsessive belief some have that all those in another party all mad, barmy, evil and probably eat babies for breakfast too.


Complete this sentence: The thing I love about politics is...

... the power individuals have to improve our world.


What would you like your political epitaph to be?

"We noticed the difference he made."