Fourteen years ago, when David Cameron defeated Gordon Brown to usher in the new British age of chaotic, wayward Conservatism, I was still in my thirties. Watching first a sequence of divisions sewn into the country, on issues of genuine political consequence, then the factious, petty culture wars that nagged in their wake, reflected a more internal turmoil for me. How to be middle-aged.
This election, I face an impending reversal of political weather well into my fifties. Most of my concerns about the forthcoming election are personal, not ideological, a part of older age I hadn’t factored in. I’ve been in the same relationship since Blair was PM and sober for several years. I run a business. My priority exciting thoughts outside work rotate around if, how and when I’ll be able to retire.
