It’s almost 40 years since I briefly locked my father in the house to prevent him voting SDP rather than Labour in the 1983 general election. Given the certainty of an overwhelming Conservative majority in the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, this was, in hindsight, a supremely futile act of sectarian intolerance. In fairness, I did let him out towards tea time and he made it to the polling station in the end.
Dad died seven years ago this week, and the polarised politics that have unfolded since his death have made me re-examine the choices he made at the ballot box. He voted for Harold Macmillan in 1959 and for Edward Heath in 1970, but also for Harold Wilson in 74 and Jim Callaghan in 79. Quintessentially, he was a defender of what was known as the postwar consensus – a “mixed economy” with a strong, pro-active role for the state and a place for public ownership, a seat at the top tables of decision-making for trade unions alongside government and employers, and a properly funded welfare state.
