Coming home politically

HOME IS WHERE THE VOTE IS

The first time I got to exercise my democratic right to vote was the second general election of 1974, which gave Harold Wilson the majority he'd lacked first time around in February.  Edinburgh, and Scotland as a whole, had a very different political makeup then than it does now.  Much like England there was a split between the Tories and Labour, odd pockets of Liberal adherence, and the SNP were an almost unknown minority party.  At the time I lived in the west of the city and the constituency vote was largely split between blue and yellow, Labour a poor third.  The winner, not who I voted for, was Lord James Douglas-Hamilton - it won't be hard to guess which party he represented....

My last vote in Scotland before moving south was the 1979 devolution referendum. I voted Yes.  The losing side again.  By then my political convictions had evolved into positions that I still largely adhere to today.  Chief amongst them that the Conservative party was clearly devoted to furthering the interests of the wealthy at the expense of the mass of the people and it was a civic duty to do whatever I could to prevent them from gaining power.  That's a viewpoint that the current UK political farrago reinforces to the nth degree.

Then I spent 35 years in England, the first 10 in Hampshire, the remainder in Southport.  In each case I found myself back in that Edinburgh West scenario, the majority vote split between Tory and Liberal (later LibDem), with Labour nowhere in the running.  Based on the aforementioned conviction I found myself voting Lib most of the time, sometimes Labour in local elections if it looked like they had a chance. Tactical voting was the order of the day.

It wasn't always comfortable.  While most of the people I worked with tended towards progressive views like myself. the community didn't.  It was "interesting" living in what was largely a naval town at the time of the  wholly unnecessary Falklands/Malvinas conflict...

All of which is by way of explaining why life in Leith and North Edinburgh, where I've now lived for over four years, is such a homecoming.  Not just because it means a return to the city of my birth, but because, finally, I feel politically at home.  For the first time I can vote with conviction, knowing there's a good chance of my choice winning.  That feels good.

So we've got an SNP MP, an SNP constituency MSP, and our list MSPs include a couple of Greens, including the great Andy Wightman.  Leith and Leith Walk were, after the last council elections, the only Tory-free wards in the city.  And, in the disastrous EU referendum, this constituency recorded the highest Remain vote in the country, and the highest of any in the UK outside London.   It's diverse, lively and has a high proportion of young people (not me, obviously) which makes it, mostly, a tolerant and thoughtful place to live. 

There's one minor dark spot in all this.  My first vote after returning was in IndyRef.  This area, like the city as a whole, voted No.  But there's plenty of opportunity to ensure that changes next time round.  Which might be very soon.  Here's hoping.