West Ham Till I Die

Iain Dale

LBC Evening presenter, political geek and lover of all things claret & blue

  • From: Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom
  • Born: 1962

About me

Iain Dale presents the Evening Show on LBC Radio (Monday-Thursday 7pm-10pm). He was named Radio Presenter of the Year for 2013 & 2016 at the Arqiva Awards, and was shortlisted for Speech programme of the year at the 2013 Sony Radio Awards. In 2014 he won a Sony Award for ‘Best Interview of the Year’.

He joined LBC in 2010 and presented the Drivetime show for five and a half years, from March 2013 until August 2018. He has presented four LBC General Election Night Shows, two American Presidential Election overnight shows, as well as the stations Scottish and Brexit referendum night shows.

This year he has two new books being published – in August Why Can’t We All Get Along: Shout Less, Listen More (Harper Collins, Hardback, £12.99) and in November The Prime Ministers 1721-2020: Three Hundred Years of Political Leadership (Hodder & Stoughton, Hardback, £25).

Iain is a visiting professor of politics and broadcasting at the University of East Anglia, which he graduated from in 1985 with a degree in German and Linguistics.

Iain was a panellist on CNN Talk on CNN International and is a regular contributor to Newsnight, the Andrew Marr Show, Good Morning Britain and Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine (formerly The Wright Stuff)

Iain co-hosts a weekly podcast with former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called ‘For the Many’, the ‘Iain Dale Book Club’ podcast, the Iain Dale All Talk podcast and also a podcast of his weekly ‘Cross Question’ political panel show - all available through iTunes, Google Podcasts and all other major podcast platforms.

Until June 2018 Iain was managing director of Britain’s leading political publisher, Biteback Publishing. He formed the company in 2009 and published more than 600 books including Power Trip by Damian McBride and the bestseller, Call me Dave: The Unauthorised Biography of David Cameron by Michael Ashcroft and Isabel Oakeshott as well as The Alastair Campbell Diaries.

Iain is one of Britain’s leading political commentators and bloggers. He is a regular columnist for the Telegraph, Evening Standard and ‘I’ paper. He has been a contributing editor for GQ Magazine, writes for various national newspapers and for seven years penned a weekly diary for the Eastern Daily Press. For five years he wrote a monthly column in the gay lifestyle magazine, Attitude and was a regular presenter of Radio 4’s What the Papers Say. He writes a weekly diary column for ConservativeHome.com and is the media critics for Reaction.Life. He is a contributing editor to MACE magazine.

He founded Total Politics magazine (sold to Dod’s in December 2012) and was the brains behind Politico’s Bookstore and Politico’s Publishing. He was a presenter of Radio 5 Live’s Sunday Service programme alongside Fi Glover and Charlie Whelan from 2000 to 2004 and presented Planet Politics on Oneword Radio. He is a regular panellist on Radio 4’s Any Questions and has appeared twice on BBC1’s Question Time.

Iain is a former parliamentary researcher and chief of staff to David Davis MP. He was a political lobbyist, financial journalist and is the creator and host of the theatre production A Night With Ann Widdecombe, which toured provincial theatres all around the country. He stood for Parliament at the 2005 general election in North Norfolk, but has now given up active politics.

Iain has written or edited more than forty books including The NHS: Things That Need to be Said, Memories of Margaret Thatcher, The Big Book of Boris, 500 of the Most Acerbic, Witty & Erudite Things Ever Said About Politics, West Ham: When Football Was Football & Norwich City: When Football Was Football. His latest book, co-edited with Jacqui Smith is Honourable Ladies: Profiles of Women MPs 1918-2019.

Iain grew up near Saffron Walden in Essex but now splits his time between his main Tunbridge Wells and Norfolk. He is married to John.

He also blogs on politics, current affairs, media and radio at iaindale.com and edits westhamtillidie.com. He can be found on Twitter @iaindale.

How I came to support West Ham

I shall whisper this, because it’s a tad embarrassing, when I was a kid I was a Man U supporter. Well, it was natural, I lived in Essex! However, I saw the light when I was about ten years old and switched to supporting the Hammers. I think it was because my best friend at primary school, Roger Sizer, supported them. I vaguely remember going to see them play Cambridge United in a testimonial game in the early 1970s (can’t find details of it on the net) and that was what finally did it. My first game at Upton Park came in 1977, when we lost 1-0 to Chelsea. I stood in the lower tier of the West Stand, very near to where my current seat is. I remember walking along Green Street and seeing a series of fights. It’s not like than now! I didn't get a season ticket till I had moved to London and could afford it. And I have had one ever since. It's a drug I haven't been able to wean myself off of. Not that I have tried. I have been a season ticket holder since 1991. I used to sit in Row X of the Dr Martens Stand lower tier, not too far from the dug outs. I used to be in the East Stand Upper, which to be honest I preferred. I am now in the front row of the 1966 seats at the London Stadium.

My best West Ham memory

The 2006 Cup Final. A fantastic game, played in the true tradition of the FA Cup, We lost, but it didn't feel like we had. When we went 2-0 up I thought I was living in dreamland. But when Gerrard scored, you just knew how it was going to play out. I will always remember the Liverpool supporters who kept shaking my hand afterwards, admitting we should have won.

The best West Ham game I’ve ever seen

West Ham 5 Bradford 4

Favourite Player

Paolo Di Canio
Striker

All Time Eleven

Ludek Miklosko
Goalkeeper
Billy Bonds
Midfielder
Trevor Brooking
Midfielder
Dimitri Payet
Winger
Ray Stewart
Right back
Julian Dicks
Left back
Bobby Moore
Central Defender
Scott Parker
Midfielder
Carlos Tevez
Striker
Joe Cole
Midfielder
Alan Devonshire
Winger

About us

West Ham Till I Die is a website and blog designed for supporters of West Ham United to discuss the club, its fortunes and prospects. It is operated and hosted by West Ham season ticket holder, LBC radio presenter and political commentator Iain Dale.

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Iain Dale, WHTID, PO Box 663, Tunbridge Wells, TN9 9RZ

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