Alas, alas, alas. I cannot make it to the rally tonight. But I will be there tomorrow morning for the first official day of Conference.
It is at times like this that I start to reflect on my membership of the Liberal Democrats. What makes me tick? What made me become a Lib Dem? What has made me get so ridiculously involved in the Party? What keeps me going, and who keeps me going, when the odds are stacked against us?
Well, mostly? It is the people. And so I thought, since Conference is (amongst other things) all about meeting people you respect and admire, I would write out a Corny List. I’ve invented the name myself, but what follows will be my list of Liberal Democrats (both Welsh and otherwise, conference attendees and otherwise) who have inspired me. I will probably be writing about more people over the next few weeks, so if you’re not on it, it is absolutely no indictment. It just means I didn’t have room! Of course, my inspiration to do this may fizzle out, so... yeah. NB: This will be incredibly corny, as the list itself disclaims, so if you hate corniness, stop reading here. Now.
My Dad and Mum:
Oh, puke, you probably think. But it’s true. There is a strong chance that my Dad may become the next MP for Newport East in the next election. Alright, so that’s all great and everything, but to me he’s still the person who helps me when things look like they’re about to collapse. And he’s the person I come to for advice, and the person I sometimes have massive debates (heated discussions, even) with. About policy, the Party, even the world.
My Mum is exactly the same. I’ve lost count of the times I pop downstairs for a chat in front of Newsnight or Question Time, and then suddenly look up at 1 am and realise we’ve been talking about Iraq, socialism, or something like that, for three hours.
I was always raised to argue anything politically (okay, so the rules of the household are not up for debate, but that’s parental prerogative). I attribute my (hopefully) questioning mind to both my parents. But they gave me a much greater gift than that. They gave me my fierce compassion and care for people and the world. Without them, I wouldn’t be half the person I was today. So they remain my first and absolute inspiration in everything I work towards.
(Interesting aside, I actually didn’t join the Party because of my parents. Lots of people assume I did, but I state for the record that I asked to join the Party first. Badge of honour, that!)
My Siblings
Oh, “siblings”. How generic a term! But oh, well. There’s something about growing up in a big family that does certain things to you. Firstly, you eat food very quickly. Because seriously, if there’s one slice of bread left on the table, you have to be able to snatch it and eat it as quickly as you can before anyone else can notice. Or you could just get another slice from the bread-bin, but that’s no fun.
Of particular inspiration (politically) is my brother, of “middle of nowhere” fame. Where I’m an emotional, instinctive, react-before-thinking kind of person, my brother is one of the most calm (and humorous) people I know. So when I start ranting about so-and-so-and-so, and how the world is awful and why don’t they just do something... he sort of listens and then gives the facts.
Even if he managed to cause more controversy with one throw-away comment than I’ve managed to achieve with years of trying. Damn him.
“Ben and Dom”
When I was eighteen, I got my first job! Pitifully, for the Lib Dems working in their phone bank. I was (and I suppose, still am) a cocky young person, fresh from A levels, thinking I knew everything about the world. I was soon disabused of that fact, when I met Ben Lloyd (now Policy Officer) and Dom Hannigan (now PPC for Cardiff South and Penarth).
They were so clever. The first day I finished work, I went home and said to Dad, “Dad, they know everything. They were on the phones today, and like, Dom started quoting our tax policies without reading anything and Ben managed to talk about immigration with so much detail! I’m thick!”
Well, I’m naturally competitive, and I hate feeling stupid. So I started learning more about the Liberal Democrats because of them. What was once a visceral, instinctive “I’m Lib Dem because of Iraq” feeling, coalesced into a firm belief in liberalism and social democracy. I still haven’t caught up to them both yet (and doubt I ever will), but they still made me learn.
Not to mention that both of them are incredibly enthusiastic about the party, and about how we can change things for the better. I may not agree with them both all of the time, but when I disagree with them on anything, I make bloody sure I know what I’m talking about.
So, they were a major inspiration. Yeah.
(PS: Vote Dominic Hannigan as your MP in Cardiff South and Penarth!)
Conclusion:
Which brings me to about 2006... when my experience of the Party was limited to just a few people. Little did I know that in just a few months or years, my head would be full of inspirational people, places and speeches. But more on that in “Corny List #2”, in a few days.
Oh. I’m not putting any AMs or MPs on this Corny List. They’ll get their own “Why I Am Inspired By Our AMs and MPs” blog post, so it’s not fair for them to be put on here as well. :)
Do your own Corny List. G'won, g'won, g'won, g'won.
2 comments:
Peter Black for Swansea West? Did I miss something...? :p
Oops! Changed! Definitely NOT a Freudian slip! :)
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