I'm trying to make a linked list class in python (pointless I know, but it's a learning exercise), and the method I have written to remove a node doesn't work if I try to remove the first element of the linked list. If the node to be removed is anywhere else in the linked list the method works fine. Can someone give me some insight as to where I've gone wrong? Here's my code thus far: class Node: def __init__(self, data=None, next=None): self.data = data self.next = next def __repr__(self): return repr(self.data) def printNodes(self): while self: print self.data self = self.next def removeNode(self, datum): """removes node from linked list""" if self.data == datum: return self.next while self.next: if self.next.data == datum: self.next = self.next.next return self self = self.next