"With hindsight, perhaps my expectations were slightly too high. When Labour won the 2024 election I thought the whole country was going to live happily ever after, like the end of a fairytale in which good triumphs over evil. Spoiler alert: that hasn't quite happened. In not unrelated news, last week a former Labour candidate, Matthew Syed, wrote a column in the Sunday Times entitled I've joined the Conservatives. Unexpectedly, it made me somewhat envious."
"The running gag in my house was that my parents would help me, no matter what if I got pregnant in my teens, or became addicted to drugs, they would be there. But if you ever vote Tory, you're on your own! went the punchline. As Freud said, there are no jokes. I rebelled in many different and increasingly imaginative ways during my teenage years and beyond, but not once did I consider not voting Labour, let alone actually going through with it."
High hopes after Labour's 2024 victory proved misplaced as anticipated improvements failed to appear. Growing disillusionment followed controversies and policy decisions, and a former Labour candidate's switch to the Conservatives prompted unexpected envy. Deep family ties explain continued loyalty: a father served as a Labour MP and working peer and personally guided the first vote with the instruction to "Do the right thing." Household norms promised support in crises but forbade voting Conservative, creating a lasting taboo. Rebellion occurred in many forms, but political allegiance remained constant; adulthood and the father's death have not removed that commitment.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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