Hello I'm Kirstie Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1988 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My castaway this week is a man who for nearly 20 years from the moment he became president of his

student's union to the time he was made leader of his party seemed to enjoy a life of

endless success luck walked with him they said since then however success success. of her majesty's opposition. He is of course Neil Kinnock.

Mr Kinnock, you've been leader of your party for four and a half years.

You've lost one general election and Downing Street looks as distant as ever.

Do you get the feeling that your luck is running out?

No, I don't think so.

I've been lucky longer than that 20 years actually.

I was very fortunate in my upbringing,

the kind of community and family that I belong to, and it continued to run on and in many, many ways.

I'm still a very fortunate person in my family particularly, but also with my my friends and I think too with the kind of

ideas and opportunities that exist. So whilst not depending totally on luck I think

luck comes out of hard work as often as not then it's always useful.

Napoleon said give me lucky generals I believe the same thing.

Do you believe in fate though in destiny that somebody up there has got it all worked out for you?

There have been some incidents in my life in which the first thought that it's good to me after

escaping, getting out of it, has been somebody up there loves me, but I think that to depend on fate is a mistake.

Just let it come along in those respects.

Other things possibly can be planned, there can be great strategies, some of them come to nothing,

others actually work.

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