This is the sunset on election night. It was taken on our way home to watch the election night coverage, after a post-voting drink, we finally went to bed at 4am. My mum would have been so delighted with the election result of 5th July, especially Keir Starmer as PM, because she thought he had a nice face. Sadly she passed away last year, but my dad was able to see the election to government again of the party he has supported all his life, something he said he thought he would not see in his lifetime. Neil Kinnock also said the same, another man who recently lost his wife, like my mum, to brutal dementia. My involvement in politics started at an early age, helping my dad hand out leaflets on my Moulton-Midi bike covered in voting stickers. I will never forget the shock of Thatcher being elected in 1979, I was 12, and I wrote in my diary at the time that it was the worst day of my life (admittedly I was young, angry, and a bit naive, nevertheless politically engaged). Thatcher was my detestation focus throughout the 90s until her resignation in 1990. Politics, when I was young, was up there with music and fashion, they were composites of my youth culture, and I was not alone in this.
It cannot be denied that my family was a big influence on my politics. "political tribalism", is something commentators say is disappearing. Possibly political tribalism has reverted to political apathy after 14 years of entitlement, chaos, and social and economic devastation, punctuated with lies and vitriol for anybody who is not part of the government's tribe. Some prime ministers have come close to winning the abhorrence prize that Thatcher held, but Johnson finally succeeded. Political apathy is possibly consequential in the low voter turnout, 60% compared to 71% when Labour got into power after 18 years of Tory rule in 1997. After years of rogue rule, people no longer trust politics or politicians, especially the young. In the next 5 years, one of the things this government needs to encourage is the political engagement of the young.
Voting is a fundamental part of our democracy and citizenship. And we older people have a responsibility here too, to encourage the younger members of our families to be engaged in the issues of the day, and to considerately challenge, let them know they can make a difference. Politics should be part of a young person's identity, up there with fashion and music. Respectful politics that is, acknowledging that we have more in common than that which divides us, as we come together to try to create a fairer, kinder, and more connected world (Jo Cox Foundation)