Clive Brooke became Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe in 1995.He is considered to be one of the hardest working peers in the House of Lords. The motto inscribed on his coat of arms is ‘one day at a time.’ His first major job was in the Inland Revenue Staff Federation, eventually becoming General Secretary thereof and its successor, the Public Services Tax and Commerce Union. 1989 – 1996 he became initially, a TUC General Council member; then a member of the Executive Committee. Public service runs through his veins. Lorna Roberts came into his life and they married in 1967, over 55 years ago. A bumpy ride, and by his own admission, he was not the best of husbands at times. However, in his early forties, owing to his behaviour around his addiction to booze, food and sex, the wheels to his personal train began to fall off. A grim doctor’s warning that death was just around the corner caused him to change his life. What follows is a super candid account of how things worked out.

Film – Zany films – Naked Gun(American crime spoof-comedy) –  Leslie Nielson, Priscilla Presley, “Weird Al Yankovic” 1988, Director David Zucker.

Blazing Saddles (Satirical western black comedy film) – Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder 1974 Director Mel Brooks.

Forest Gump (American Comedy Drama) – Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson 1994 Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Book – Confessions of St Augustine – Confessions (Latin: Confessiones) is an autobiographical work by Saint Augustine, consisting of 13 books written in Latin between AD 397 and 400. The work outlines Saint Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity.

Hobbies – Meditation and mindfulness he prefers to do this on his knees and really be invested in the moment.

Gardening – they have a terrace surrounded by a shrub called Continus Grace which they both adore. it is beautiful  and constantly changing colour, they often give it away as gifts to family and friends.

Pet/Best Friend – Cairn Terriers – Daisy was the first, Barney is his current pet – He first was inspired to get a dog when suffering with cancer following an operation in hospital, he became fascinated by a picture on the wall by artist Helen Paul of a French Village scene – as he was on morphine he saw the dog nodding at him  and it made him want to have a dog in the future once he had recovered from it all.