In the week leading up to the big day Shaun Edwards could not remember being more nervous.
“Two or three days before I didn’t sleep a wink hardly all night,” said the cross-code rugby legend. “Very similar to a huge Grand Slam game. Actually, it was more than that.”
What it was were the UK local elections and, specifically, the contest for Westminster where James Small-Edwards, his son with M People singer Heather Small, was standing as a Labour Party candidate.
“Secretly I always wanted you to become a politician,” Edwards told James in the build-up. “With rugby you can make people happy. With politics you can really make a difference.”
As polling day drew nearer Edwards was there on the streets of Bayswater delivering leaflets, proudly accompanying his boy around the neighbourhood he would win the vote to represent.
“He lives in France now, so it was great driving about, doing the things we used to do,” said James, 25. “It was my first election, quite nerve-wracking. Dad was very reassuring. Also very calming.”
On the surface perhaps. Beneath less so.
“I knew how hard he’d worked,” said Edwards. "How badly he wanted to make a difference to those who’d shared with him their problems and anxieties.
“Heather’s done very well, she has amazing talent. I’ve done relatively well. But we don’t forget where we came from. James is the same.”
Until a week ago Westminster had always been a Conservative borough. Labour had their work cut out.
“Having parents who are high-achievers definitely brings a certain pressure,” James said. “Of course you want to replicate that. But in equal measure, and probably even more so, it’s an inspiration.
“In March I was in Paris seeing dad win his fifth Six Nations Championship. I knew I was heading towards a day of judgement myself. Did that bring inspiration? Yeah, of course it did.”
Come election day Edwards watched his son move into a different gear. “I saw real leadership in him,” he said. “Then again, he was a scrum-half.
“They know what they want, they get the best out of their forwards. James certainly got the best out of his team that day.”
At the count Heather was in full support mode. “With a 6am declaration it was a long old night,” James said. “She slept for a few hours but was fully awake for the result.”
So notable was it that Sir Keir Starmer would use the State Opening of Parliament to congratulate the Prime Minister on becoming “the first resident of Downing Street to be a constituent of a Labour council.”
James was quickly asked to become deputy cabinet member for planning and economic development.
“I’ve got quite a lot on my hands,” he said. “But I don’t think there’s any greater honour than representing people, trying to make their lives better and improve the area where you grew up.
“Our country definitely isn’t in as good a place as it could be. I want to play a role, no matter how small, in changing that course of direction.”
