On returning to the UK he attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School (now Kings' School), which at the time was a state comprehensive school in Winchester, Hampshire.
Njegova mama, Shirley Jean (rojena Rolles), je bila učiteljica primerjalnih religij na winchesterskem kolidžu kralja Alfreda (danes univerza Winchester), njegov oče, David Norman Lewis Firth, pa je bil učitelj zgodovine na tej isti šoli ter izobraževalni častnik nigerske vlade.