Robin, 57, Maldon, Essex
Occupation Works in the supply chain in the cheese industry
Voting record Generally Conservative, though for Tony Blair once, and Paddy Ashdown once. Voted leave
Amuse bouche Robin once owned a small vineyard and in six years didn’t get a single bottle of wine from it
Wendy, 46, Wivenhoe, Essex
Occupation Academic
Voting record Labour, but flirted with Green in one local election. Voted remain
Amuse bouche Wendy was homeless for a period during her teens
For starters
Wendy I had braced myself for some gammon, and he wasn’t like that at all.
Robin The first thing I did was insult her. I said, “We’re both boomers” and she said, “I’m not a boomer.”
Wendy I asked a poncey question to the waiter, which was, “Do you not have French wine by the glass?” Robin said, “Oh, do you know about wine?” and I said, “No, I just know that French wine doesn’t give me a headache.”
Robin I had Brixham crab on toast and vegetarian gnocchi. We shared a cheese platter.
The big beef
Robin When we got on to Maggie [Thatcher], we had a difference of opinion. I still think as a statesman she was very good. The unions were too strong. I used to drive a lorry, and they’d make you join the union to get to the docks. I used to wave my blood donor book through the window, making out it was a union card. I’m talking 30-odd years ago.
Wendy And I asked him why he thought so highly of Thatcher, and he said she was a strong leader. I asked him what was strong about her leadership, and couldn’t get much on the strength except that it was strong. Every single policy that we talked about, he agreed with me.
Robin Selling off the council houses was the wrong thing to do. And I agree people shouldn’t have second homes. There are all these areas that are dead because nobody lives there.
Wendy I’m from the industrial Midlands. And I grew up in Cornwall, mining country, so no one I knew had anything good to say about Thatcherism. He did acknowledge that.
Sharing plate
Robin We think the Metropolitan police probably are sexist, but also that the general population are.
Wendy We started off very much agreeing, which surprised me. He said the police were just a reflection of wider society, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t a problem.
Robin My view is that younger people are not sexist. She’s got two sons of very different ages, and she’s noticed different attitudes between the millennial and the younger one. My kids don’t see sexism at all.
Wendy We talked about what felt like the complicity of the Met with Partygate. He didn’t think parties at No 10 were a big deal. But my uncle died during that lockdown. It’s hurting people who couldn’t hold their family’s hands. My uncle had to die on FaceTime.
Robin We both thought it was wrong for Sadiq Khan to put Cressida Dick on notice. Wendy thought they were just finding a reason to get rid of a woman.
Wendy It’s good to have a woman in these positions. When I got in my cab to go home, the driver said Cressida Dick had just resigned.
For afters
Robin Boris is an embarrassment, and we both agreed about that – we’re both in despair at the situation. We agreed that the media had far too much influence, and that was a bad thing.
Wendy He voted Tory in 2019 – I laughed. He squirmed when I asked if he regretted it. He said Corbyn wasn’t a viable alternative. And I was, like, “Isn’t he like my grandad, a good, old-fashioned Keynesian social democrat?”
Robin I blame the unions for the situation we’re in. Had the unions not backed Ed Miliband, David would have been Labour leader, then in 2015 we would have had another coalition, or he would have beaten Cameron.
Wendy One of the things he said is: “I’m definitely getting more leftwing as I get older.” And I said, “Yeah, so am I – and I started off in the radical left.”
Takeaways
Wendy I can’t emphasise enough how pleasant he was. I come from a big working-class family, and we’re gobby, so everyone tells everyone else what their views are. I get the sense that he’s a bit more middle class than me.
Robin She’s fairly reserved and considerate – I think we both were.
Additional reporting: Naomi Larsson
• Robin and Wendy ate at Mimosa in Colchester
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