Mumsnet online chats

From time to time, we host live webchats with the great and the good (and Piers Morgan). And, it has to be said, you do ask them some scarily good questions – some of the advance ones so scary that one or two of the great and the good got cold feet and refused to come on!

You can still read the original online chats on our Talk boards but, to make the discussions (and scary questions) a little easier to follow, we've also pulled together some edited transcripts. You can find them by clicking on the relevant links in the (rather loose) topic areas below...

Politicians | Health experts | Parenting gurus | Lifestyle experts |  Journalists | Authors

Politicians

Gordon Brown is prime minister and leader of the Labour Party. He visited Mumsnet Towers on 16 Oct 2009 and got through nearly 30 answers in the hour he spent live online, covering childcare vouchers, MPs' expenses, education, tax allowances, Sure Start, women in politics, breastfeeding, maternity services and more. Pre-politics he was a university and college lecturer, and author. He's been MP for Dunfermline East since 1983 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer for a decade before he became PM. He and his wife Sarah have two sons, John and Fraser.

David Cameron is leader of the Conservative Party. He lives with his wife Sam and their children in London and Witney, west Oxfordshire (where he has been MP since 2001). David called into Mumsnet HQ on the way back to his parliamentary duties after taking paternity leave in February 2006. He was happy to answer your questions on everything from MMR to Abba. And he did all his own typing.

Ed Balls is secretary of state for children, schools and families. On 9 Sept 2009 he visited MNHQ (and impressed us all with his typing skills) and answered questions about class sizes, summer-born babies, school admissions, special needs, childcare provision and much, more more. Ed is MP for Normanton and married to Yvette Cooper, the work and pensions secretary. They have three children aged ten, eight and five. He loves cooking and is a Norwich City supporter.

Harriet Harman is deputy leader of the Labour Party, leader of the House of Commons, Minister for Women and Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham. She introduced the Minimum Income Guarantee, the New Deal for lone parents and set up the National Childcare Strategy. She joined us in November 2008 to chat about maternity leave, breastfeeding, the sex industry – and her fondness for Strictly Come Dancing's Anton DuBec.

Andy Burnham is secretary of state for health and MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester. He joined us for a chat in July 2009 (a mere six weeks into the job) when swine flu had just hit Britain and everyone was clamouring for the latest advice and information. He was born in Liverpool, has three children, supports Everton and, apparently, plays a mean guitar riff.

Caroline Lucas is leader of the Green party, MEP for the South-East and a mother of two. She joined us for a chat just prior to the European elections in June 2009 and shot the political breeze with Mumsnetters on everything from climate change, environmentally friendly parenting and toxic toys to maternity care, West Wing – and why being an MEP turns your hair grey.

Alan Johnson is home secretary and Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull West and Hessle. He visited us in April 2008, when he was secretary of state for health. He said: 'It was a really impressive discussion. The site serves a vibrant online community.' After the chat we created a ten-point list of recommendations to improve miscarriage care, which was passed on to the Government.

Andrew Lansley is shadow health secretary and Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire. He has five children: three daughters from his first marriage; and a boy and a girl from his second. His father worked in the NHS from the day it was created in 1948 and Andrew says he is committed to improving the service for everyone. He joined us in February 2009 to talk about maternity care and the Conservative party's plans to improve care for women in labour.

Maria Miller is the shadow minister for the family and Conservative MP for Basingstoke. A mum of three herself, she says she'd like to see more working mums in Parliament, although she admits that being an MP 'is not a family friendly job'. Maria joined us for an online chat in July 2008, where she discussed work/life balance and talked about what it's really like being an MP and a mother.

Lord Darzi is parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health, the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, and an honorary consultant at St Mary's Hospital and The Royal Marsden. He has been leading a review of the NHS, talking to staff and patients about how it should be reformed. He joined us for a chat in June 2008, and was very interested to hear your experiences (good and bad) of the NHS.
 

Health experts

Professor David Salisbury is director of immunisation at the Department of Health. He originally trained as a paediatrician and also works extensively for the World Health Organisation, including his role as chairman of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Vaccines. He was a timely guest on 30 October 2009 because he came to discuss the swine flu vaccination, particularly for pregnant women, just as the swine flu vaccination programme began to be rolled out across the UK.

Dr Gwyneth Lewis is the government's 'maternity tsar'. She has been a maternity adviser to the Department of Health for over 20 years, making her one of the country's leading experts on maternity care. She came to MNHQ in April 2009 to hear your thoughts and concerns and about maternity hospitals and antenatal, labour and postnatal care.

George Haycock is scientific adviser to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths and emeritus professor of paediatrics at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals, London. He came to MNHQ on 30 June 2009 to offer advice on everything from co-sleeping to dummies.

Dr Adam Fox is a consultant paediatric allergist and has recently been working at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital. His research interests include gastrointestinal food allergy and eczema. He came to share his expert knowledge of eczema, asthma, anaphylaxis, food intolerance and food allergies with us all in November 2008.


Dr Anthony Zybutz is a renowned Harley Street dentist with many years' experience of fixing and shining teeth. He got us all in a flossing fluster for his online chat in September 2008. And, as has two young children himself, he was happy to chat about everything from children who grind their teeth in the night to toddlers who won't clean their teth.

Professor Amanda Kirby is an expert in child development. Her team at the Dyscovery Centre Wales is recognised for its work in Developmental Coordination Disorder (dyspraxia) and related learning difficulties. Amanda has both a professional and personal interest in DCD as her middle child has coordination difficulties. She joined us for a webchat that focused on special needs in November 2008.

Zita West is a practising midwife, acupuncturist and nutritional adviser. She worked in the NHS for more than 20 years and then, in 2002, set up the Zita West clinic, a multidisciplinary practice that uses complementary therapies for fertility and pregnancy. In her Mumsnet online chat, in November 2007, she discussed miscarriage, conception, fertility and preparing for birth.

Parenting gurus

Tanya Byron is a practising consultant in child and adolescent mental health (and a mother of two). She is the author of Your Child Your Way, the presenter of The House of Tiny Tearaways and, in 2008, she published an Government-commissioned independent review of children and internet safety. She shared her parenting – and style – tips with us in September 2007.

Christopher Green is one of the world's best-known parenting experts. His classic book Toddler Taming has helped over a million parents around the world to survive their children's toddlerhood with sanity intact. In his online chat in June 2001, he offered sage advice on everything from early morning waking to biting and (yes) tantrums.

Steve Biddulph has written several bestselling parenting books, including The Secret of Happy Children and Raising Boys. He is not in favour of institutional daycare for the under twos. He lives in Australia, where, in 2000, he was voted Father of the Year for his work encouraging the active role of fathers. He joined us for an online chat in September 2000.

Lifestyle experts

Alvin Hall is an independent money-saving expert – with a refreshingly well-honed sense of humour. He advised the nation how to spend and save wisely on BBC2's Your Money Or Your Life, and he has written several books, including Show Me The Money – Putting The Fun Into Finance!, which is specifically aimed at children. He showered us with his uniquely charming advice in July 2008.

Will Gray, the award-winning travel journalist, first came to Mumsnet for an online chat in July 2008 - and he was so nice and knowledgable, we invited him back in June 2009. Will has travelled extensively with his two children, so what he doesn't know about surviving long-haul flights with small kids ain't worth knowing. He answered loads of your questions on everything from camping and city breaks to kids' clubs and family adventure holidays.

Kim Woodburn of Kim & Aggie fame joined us on 22 September 09. She's famous for her no-nonsense advice on programmes such as How Clean is Your House and Too Posh to Wash, and books such as Cleaning Bible. She was aghast at our slovenly ways, but didn't flinch from tackling the mucky stuff such as nasty toilets and smelly washing machines. 

 We've also had jolly nice online chats with: Charlotte Lawrance, Domestic Energy Assesor (January 2009); Melissa Hill, author of The Smart Woman's Guide to Staying At Home (May 2001)

Journalists

India Knight writes a weekly column in The Sunday Times and is the author of Shopping and The Thrift Book. She joined Mumsnet for a chat just after the publication of The Baby, her first book for children, and dived straight in to tackle questions on everything from special needs to Crocs. During the chat, she also revealed that she believes eating grapes in the supermarket is totally acceptable. India lives in London and has three children.

Piers Morgan was editor of the News of the World and then the Mirror – until he was sacked for publishing faked pictures of British soldiers 'abusing' Iraquis. He's now a regular on TV, most famously as a judge on Britain's Got Talent. Among the many gems Piers revealed during his online chat was his dislike of 'backstabbing' Cherie Blair and his desire to be locked in a cell with Scarlett Johanssen...

Authors

Patrick Gale is the author of Mumsnet Best award-winner Notes From An Exhibition (as well as many other fine books). He came to MNHQ in June 2009 to talk (with a rather swoonsome crowd) about his new book The Whole Day Through, his girly taste in novels, how Richard and Judy changed his life and why he thinks most novelists are "basically, mildly mentally ill". 

Tony Parsons has written six bestsellers, including Man and Boy and My Favourite Wife. He made his name as a columnist for the New Musical Express and still writes a column for The Mirror. He braved the Mumsnet Q&As in October 2008, when he chatted about everything from his literary inspiration to breast implants to his ex-wife Julie Burchill.

Michael Morpurgo is an award-winning children's author. His much-loved bestsellers include War Horse, The Butterfly Lion and Private Peaceful. Michael describes himself as "oldish" and admits to not having embraced the digital age, so his "chat" in December 2008 was a little unusual: we sent him the questions first, he penned his answers long-hand and then we typed them up! Many of his questions came from Mumsnetters' children.

Jacqueline Wilson is a mega-bestselling children's author. With book sales totalling well over 25 million, she's up there with JK Rowling and Dan Brown. She joined us for a chat in March 2009, where she revealed that she started writing at six years old, that she gets upset if people don't like her books, that she loves wearing loads of rings – and that the book she's current reading is so racy, she's too embarrassed to take it out in public!

Jonathan Coe, author of The Rotter's Club and What a Carve Up! joined us (rather nervously) in July 2008 to discuss his most recent novel, The Rain Before It Falls. We chatted with him about literary greats, TV adaptations and his own secret fan club in France – and he confessed at the end that talking to Mumsnetters wasn't "at all the ordeal I was expecting". Phew!

We've also had jolly nice online chats with: BenMacintyre, author of Agent Zigzag (January 2008); Hishan Matar, author of In the Country of Men (October 2007), and Tim Dowling, author of The Giles Wareing Haters' Club (January 2008).