The General Erection 2024
Today is the day. The people decide who our next leader will be. In all honesty, this is the first time I actually don’t have a ‘scooby-doo’ about who I am going to vote for. I just feel so lied to by all of them. The vast majority seem to be in it for their own, personal gain rather than in it for the best interests of people of the UK. The trust has gone. Given my current campaign to criminalise sex work discrimination, I find myself thinking about which political party is most likely to favour my fight for change. I’m at a loss.
Because of what the Suffragettes endured and fought for, I feel compelled to vote. They were beaten, shamed, thrown into prison and in some of the most heartbreaking cases, had their children removed from them. I cannot even begin to imagine the suffering that the Suffragettes had to go through to not only win women the right to vote, but also to improve women’s overall quality of life.
“Still the women fought to reach the House of Commons with their resolution. They fought until their clothes were torn, their bodies bruised, and the last ounce of their strength exhausted. Fifteen of them did actually fight their way through those hundreds on hundreds of police, foot and mounted, as far as the Strangers’ Lobby of the House.”
Suffragette by Emmeline Pankhurst
So when it comes to voting, I do not take it for granted. I know how hard women have fought just for me to walk down the end of my road and tick a box. But in 2024, the UK is seriously lacking when it comes to our options. We need a leader who is going to unite us, not divide us. A leader who listens to us, meets us at our level and takes action on the things that they say they’ll do when campaigning to get into power. Not someone who is going to jump on the back of a cause just to gain votes and ditch them as soon as they start to climb the political ladder. We need a leader who can park their ego aside and do what’s best for the people rather than what’s best for their own in -house ‘peacocking’ competition.
“This young man, Sir Edward Grey, then in the beginning of his career, made an eloquent plea for women’s suffrage. That Sir Edward Grey should, later in life, become a bitter foe for woman’s suffrage need astonish no one. I have known many young Englishmen who began their political life as suffrage speakers and who later became anti-suffragists or traitorous “friends” of the cause. These young and aspiring statesmen have to attract attention in some fashion, and the espousal of advanced causes, such as labour or women’s suffrage, seems an easy way to accomplish that end.”
Suffragette by Emmeline Pankhurst
Sound familiar? Has anything really changed? The game of politics!
Whatever the outcome, I hope that whoever comes into power can bring in some much-needed stability and reassurance when it comes to the economy and our living standards. The past few years have been challenging to say the least. And as tough as they have been, I know that there is so much we can learn from it; about our resilience and our adaptability even when tested by adversity. I reflect on my own challenges throughout the years; living in a youth hostel without enough money for tampons, surviving domestic violence and my journey to sobriety. Without the tough times and setbacks, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It is because of those challenges that I found my resilience. A resilience that has set me up for the rest of my life.
So, Count Binface, is this the year we finally meet?