ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: The hard-fought right that my mother will never ... trends now
The result of the local elections will have primarily been determined by oldies, since young people are more concerned about Gaza than local issues such as traffic.
Not many voters, though, will have reached the age of 97, like my mother, who was determined, despite mobility issues, to go to her polling station in Pimlico, South-West London.
And so it was that she and I embarked upon, it has to be said, a slow but important journey, about half a mile down the road.
For my mother’s generation of working women who grew up in post-war Britain, voting was a crucial part of their identity. Although last week’s mayoral and London Assembly elections were not quite at the same level as general elections, Mum felt this vote was equally important.
In 1948, when she was first eligible to vote, the memory of women gaining a hard-fought-for right was not so far distant. Women like my mother had no intention of wasting it then – or now.
The polling station was a large church, which Mum told me was famous for its candlesticks. (‘People come from all over the world to see them, darling.’)
All went fine until we had to get her and her wheelchair out of the car, on to the kerb. Why was the disability ramp pitched at an impossible gradient? It was more like a ski-lift.
For my mother’s generation of working women who grew up in post-war Britain, voting was a crucial part of their identity
Once inside, Mum experienced the patronising behaviour suffered by so many elderly people who are assumed to be unable to speak for themselves. All the questions were addressed to me rather than her, even though I suggested to the staff that they should ask Mum directly. Indeed, when she answered in her crisp, lucid voice, they should have been able to tell immediately that she was in full command of her faculties.
The church’s low lighting necessitated me having to recite the long list of candidates, including the Communist Party, Count Binface and Rejoin EU. But Mum was unflummoxed. Quickly and decisively, she put her crosses in the requisite boxes.
Her votes delivered, the journey home was hampered by my own inability to fold her wheelchair to stuff in my car. Happily, nearly half of Pimlico Road offered to help and we soon got back – both delighted by our achievement.
Mum’s vote remains private, but suffice to say I don’t think either the Conservative or Labour parties, which she has voted for variously throughout her life from the days of Churchill through Wilson, Thatcher, Blair and now Sunak, were likely beneficiaries.
Will Gaza protests trump the gala?Tomorrow’s annual Met Ball in New York will take place a couple of miles from the massive demonstrations about Gaza at Columbia University.
It will be interesting to see if any attendees use the high-profile event as a message board, as Democrat Congresswoman read more from dailymail.....
