A “dream came true” for a 110-year-old man who met the PM after being invited to attend Parliament by his local MP.
John Farringdon, from Cubbington, Warwickshire, met Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street after attending Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).
The lifelong Conservative voter, one of the UK’s oldest people, was invited to watch the session by Jeremy Wright.
“I’ve seen it on TV so many times and it seems so different, it’s such a large room,” Mr Farringdon said.
Laura Russell, manager of Cubbington Mill Care Home, said the 110-year-old had always been a “big Conservative fan” and had dreamt of going to Parliament.
Mr Wright, MP for Kenilworth and Southam, contacted Mr Farringdon on his birthday in June to invite him to PMQs.
“At 110 years of age, John is among my more experienced constituents,” the MP told the Commons this week.
“I know he would want me to ask the prime minister to join us in thanking the staff of Cubbington Mill Care Home for looking after him so well.”
Mr Wright also asked if Mr Sunak would find a “moment or two” to have a conversation with Mr Farringdon.
Speaking of his visit to No 10, Mr Farringdon described how he had been sitting at a conference table when the prime minister had entered the room.
The former Ford worker said he had told Mr Sunak about his 40 years working for the car maker, adding the day had been “marvellous”.
“[He] congratulated me and all that type of private stuff,” he told BBC CWR.
“I didn’t know it, but I looked up like that and I found I was speaking to the PM.
“And he’s a decent fella; I wasn’t sure about him before, but he gave me a hand and I took to him right away.”
Ms Russell added Mr Sunak had been “really pleasant to meet”.
“He made time to have a good chat with John about John’s history, talking about Ford, and Rishi said his first car was a Ford Escort,” she added.
Born in 1913 when the Liberal Party’s Herbert Henry Asquith was UK Prime Minister, Mr Farringdon has seen 23 different PMs during his long life.
Source : BBC