Ballot Box to Jury Box

His Honour John Baker DL was first a solicitor and partner with Amery Parkes and Co, UK where he worked on the pioneering scheme to provide legal advice to members of the Automobile Association. He then became a partner in Goodman Derrick and Co specialising in libel, copyright and franchising of the early British Independent Television (ITV) stations before switching roles to become a barrister in the chambers of Sir Dingle Foot QC, MP who was later appointed Solicitor-General. Later he was appointed as a Crown Court Recorder then Circuit Judge, rising to become the resident judge at Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court, Surrey, England and to sit as a deputy judge in the High Court of Justice. But John Baker also had a remarkable 'other life' - including as a regular broadcaster and celebrity on television and radio. He was also active in the UK Liberal Party from his student days and stood three times for Parliament. This candid and often humorous autobiography traces his political ambitions and tells how he came to discard the ballot box for the court bench which in England the judges, who are not elected, are obliged to do - of his experiences as a politician, broadcaster, Lawyer, judge and family man - and the array of leading lights and everyday folk whom he met in the course of twin careers spanning over half a century at the hub of socio-political-legal events.