Jim Powell

Jim Powell was born in London on 17th May 1949 and was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he has a Masters degree in History. He is a direct descendant of the early 19th century novelist Thomas Love Peacock.

After university, Jim Powell went into advertising, initially with Wasey Campbell-Ewald and later with Michael Bungey DFS, where he became Managing Director in 1981.

Leaving advertising in 1983, he set up a pottery business with a leading ceramic designer, with factories in Northamptonshire and Stoke-on-Trent, which produced hand-painted tableware for major stores in London and around the world.

Jim Powell was active in politics for many years, helping Leon Brittan and Francis Pym with election campaigns and collaborating with Francis Pym on his best-selling 1984 book The Politics of Consent. He contested the 1987 General Election in Coventry, losing to Geoffrey Robinson, and was later Deputy Leader of Daventry District Council.

When the perpetual losses of the pottery business had their inevitable result, he supported himself as a business consultant and started to write. The Breaking of Eggs is his first published novel.

Jim Powell’s main interest (more so than books, although he is not supposed to say that) is music, and in particular obscure singer-songwriters. He would love visitors to this site to discover the works of John Stewart, Tom Russell, Ralph McTell and Mary Chapin Carpenter in particular. He runs regular music quizzes in Northamptonshire (see Events). Other interests include football, cricket, history and France.

Among the random curiosities of his life, he has co-written and appeared in a pilot comedy series for the BBC, worked as an office boy for the Beatles, been taught by Simon Schama, produced personalised 70th birthday plates for Sir Terence Conran, qualified as a county football referee, been one of the first interviewees of Jeremy Paxman, recorded songs with one of the Seekers and been on a bicycle ride with Peter Sellers.