Politics and Me: I’ll have to sit this one out

The General Election is the 6^th of May. I should be out and about in Bath and North East Somerset campaigning like (I hope) my friends are.

Instead, I’m in Spain. I keep reminding people, to their surprise, that I study languages, not politics. Amazingly, students of politics are the least politically engaged people I know, but that’s another story.

So I’ve spent this year, the third year of my degree split between France and Spain. In France I was working for my ideological colleagues, and now friends, in the Parti Socialiste and the Conseil Regional (Regional Government.) There, I fought two elections; the by-election in September, then the Regional Elections in March. It was a small defeat followed by a massive triumph, and as far as memories go, I’ll never forget them or the people there.

I always say that politics is my hobby, which makes people laugh, because in fact it’s so much more than that. I say to all those people who don’t engage in it, that think we’re all the same, or even ask me (with contempt) why I even bother:

I’ll stand up for you even though you won’t stand up for yourself, because someone has to.

I hate, with deadly seriousness, that I can’t be there now for the General Election. Not just for me, but for all those people who don’t understand what’s at stake.

At the risk of repeating that Clinton moment, I just don’t want to see my country fall behind. I can understand if a Tory Government is elected, but what really hurts is that I was unable to do anything about it. I want to make a contribution but I can’t. I feel very helpless.

I just have to sit on the sidelines, watching with intent, with nothing but this website, that everybody ignores, including my friends.

So I say to you all, get out there and campaign for whoever you feel will do the job, make a choice, and stick to it, because we all have to live with the consequences.