Ben and Sonia met aged 7, when Sonia’s family moved to Hadfield in Derbyshire. They both attended Hadfield Methodist Church and the same primary school, secondary school and sixth form college. As children they weren’t exactly friends: aged 8 or 9, Ben poured a full cup of orange juice over Sonia’s head during a church event. But they grew closer as they grew older and started dating at 17.

After several long distance years, while Ben studied medicine at Cambridge and Sonia studied teaching in Scarborough, they married in 2011 and now have two children: Esther who is three and Naomi who is one.

Ben is a doctor - an endocrinology registrar, and Sonia was a primary school teacher before becoming a full-time mum. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant with Naomi and has been in remission since January 2019. She’s now the chair of Climate Action Preston.