Five years ago a group of us were having a lunchtime conversation about childhood memories. The conversation took a turn when we asked when we became aware of wider political events. Everyone around the table was able to tell a story of a first political memory. Towards the end of the meal we wondered whether we were just an unusual breed or whether in fact everyone had similarly poignant memories.  

Since then we have collected an extraordinary bank of personal stories about how normal people's personal histories are intimately connected to politics: an elderly woman describing the shelter in Bethnal Green tube station during the Second World War, another the tangible fear leading up to the Cuban missile crisis.

Recurrent memories of historical events, such as the Kennedy assassination, the start of the Falklands and Nelson Mandela's release, were interspersed with quirky personal anecdotes. Kate, a journalist, told us about her Irish father: "My dad is a very Irish man. He has always stuck his postage stamps upside-down onto envelopes, and when I was six years old I asked him why he did this. To my embarrassment he proclaimed, ‘Come the revolution!' Years later he explained that throughout his life his Republicanism had led to small acts of subversion against the monarchy. Sticking stamps on upside-down was his little way of marking his discontent with the Queen..."

Armed with a small camera and a smile we then decided to approach Nobel Prize Laureates, news presenters and senior politicians. To our surprise all of them responded enthusiastically. Amartya Sen spoke of his uncle regularly imprisoned for protesting against British rule. Gordon Brown's first boyhood political memory was of raising money for people in Africa. Boris Johnson meanwhile shared his memory of being 10 and painting a picture of the White Cliffs of Dover "complete with seagulls, buoys and drizzle. I pompously entitled this masterwork (in oils): England - home of the economic crisis." And Ed Miliband spoke of his disappointment when playschool was called off following Harold Wilson's resignation.

These stories now form part of a new web site called First Political Memory. By recording these fascinating insights into what drives people into public life the project aims to reconnect people's everyday lives with politics.