A knock at the door late on Sunday afternoon. My heart slightly sinks. I have just had a few mouthfuls of a well earned roast dinner after a long day of hard gardening.

Political non-engagement

I open the door to a lady asking me to sign a petition to help get some unsightly rubbish cleared up from the local area. It has been a big issue in South London and who wouldn’t want to put their name on such a petition. I sign it and we chat about it for a minute or so as I start to shift uncomfortably and look back to the Mrs as she eats her lovely roast. Mine is calling to me but I have kept some of that annoying British politeness at being interrupted on a Sunday evening.

I make stirrings to close the door  saying “thanks” when comes the “Sorry, but I can see you are about to have dinner”

I reply “I have already started dinner” but she interrupts “Can I ask how you will vote in the next General election?”

Ah! The penny drops, the petition is just a thinly veiled ruse to get you to chat about an issue no one would ever disagree with before lunging for the vote for me because I care about the local issues trick.

“I have not decided yet but it won’t be Labour this time” and “I am going to go back to my roast din…”

Again I am interrupted “What if it came down to just Labour and the Conservatives”

“I won’t be voting Labour” I say

She leans towards me and barks “WELL, YOU MUST EARN OVER 100,000 a year then”

I interrupt and tell her she is being rude and I must return to my dinner. I start to shut the door and she shifts to be seen in the ever closing gap. She boom out, this time not getting eye contact with me but leaning to be seen over my shoulder to my wife eating dinner behind me… “What about you Mrs H….., how will you vote in the coming….”

Door shuts.

What a rude woman. I wrote an email to her but never received a reply.

See my other reason for not voting Labour in Croydon North