Although it feels like longer, it has only been five months since I decided that all the issues I cared about could, in one way or another, be put under the umbrella of politics. It was a bit of a Road to Damascus moment, brought on by two distinct events.

The first: browsing media jobs one day, I found a Press Officer role, in Birmingham, with a decent salary. The only problem was that it was for the Conservative Party. But why was that a problem? I always fancied that I had an aesthetic objection to the Tories, engendered by my parents (father born and bred well above the M4; mother from Iraq), both of whom frequently used the term as an insult, of one who valued money and status more than people. However, that didn’t adequately explain why the thought of their employ made my blood run cold. So I thought. I thought of Margaret Thatcher, and the way she was willing to write off the future of millions of people. I thought of the minimum wage. I thought of the NHS. The EU. Climate change.

I thought of Labour.

The second: I had a dream which featured David Miliband. He gave me a penetrating stare. I gave him one back. Neither of us said anything. Most odd.

So yes, I joined the Labour Party. It was only £1, and it was one of the best pounds I have ever spent. Since then, I have become more active in my local community (as vice-chair of the Moseley Forum), joined the Fabians and SERA, and have started an OU degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

And now, the Speaker of the House of Twits has invited me to be on the Labour frontbenches. Do I know enough to express my opinions in more than 140 characters without getting laughed at? There’s only one way to find out…

This blog was originally posted on House of Twits, with photograph from talkradionews.

Categories: Me Me Me
Tags: birmingham, climate change, david miliband, eu, fabian society, house of twits, iraq, margaret thatcher, moseley, moseley forum, national minimum wage, nhs, open university, ppe, sera

Be the first to comment »