My London: Mishal Husain

Home is…

Camden (for the best part of the past 20 years) with my husband, Meekal, and our three sons.

What was the last play you saw?

The whole family plus my mother-in-law went to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville (below) a few weeks ago. Great fun, especially for the one child who didn’t already know the ending and was thus extra-delighted when the true identity of the handbag’s occupant was revealed.

Bus, taxi or Tube?

Tube, particularly as I am now a minute’s walk from my nearest station. But also taxi — of both the Uber and black cab variety.

Best place for a first date?

My dating knowledge is a little historic but Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday morning, or Granary Square and a walk by the canal at King’s Cross.

Where do you work out?

Mostly at home, with the help of my trainer, Jon Durrant. He does drag me out into the park on occasion.

Where would you like to be buried?

I wouldn’t. Having seen the example set by my father, who donated his body to science, I would do the same.

What makes someone a Londoner?

Knowing at which end of the Tube platform to stand, in order to make the swiftest exit at your destination station.

Best thing a cabbie has said to you?

‘You look younger than you do on the telly.’

Ever had a run-in with a policeman?

I was a fairly new driver when I stopped on a zigzag in the mid Nineties. A policeman on a motorbike appeared from nowhere and gave me three points on my licence, rightly taking no notice of my protestations. I have never been tempted to stop on a zigzag since.

What’s your London secret?

Weekend brunch at Nagina, a Pakistani restaurant on Ilford Lane. It used to be a London cabbie favourite when it was based in Whitechapel and it’s still fantastic. Have the halwa puri (while avoiding thinking about your arteries).

What are you up to right now?

Thinking ahead to interviewing the Prime Minister at the Conservative Party Conference and promoting my first book, on workplace skills for women.

Favourite shops?

Amici on the High Road in East Finchley for the best coffee in town; Trunk Clothiers on Chiltern Street when I need a gift for my husband; The Cloth Shop (above) on Portobello Road for fabric; and Indian Spice Shop on Drummond Street for spices and in summer, for Pakistani mangoes.

Who’s your professional hero?

One of the first women who inspired me was Helena Kennedy QC (below), after I read her ‘A Life in the Day’ at the back of The Sunday Times Magazine when I was about 15. I wrote to her and to my delight, she wrote back. I went into journalism in the end rather than law but I still remember that piece as a light-bulb moment that gave me a picture of a professional woman’s life and work.