Kenneth Baker was born in 1934 and educated at St Paul's and Magdalen College, Oxford. He entered parliament as Conservative MP for Acton in 1968, beginning a long parliamentary career that included serving as Environment Secretary and Home Secretary. He retired from the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election and now sits in the House of Lords.His publications include five anthologies of poetry, a volume of memoirs, The Turbulent Years, and two cartoon histories, The Prime Ministers and The Kings and Queens.