Author Archives: Joe McCauley

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Across the political board, parties’ memberships remain hugely unrepresentative. We can and must do more to simply reach out to those who we perhaps forget all too easily.

Political turmoils, such as Brexit and the continuing Scottish Independence debate, have not only exposed deep socioeconomic fractures in our society – it has also created some new ones. Identity politics is unfortunately here to stay and with that then comes the strengthening of class politics. It is important to recognise how many people are now priding themselves once again on being labelled working class, in some way, shape or form.

There is rightly so plenty of talk about inclusion within our own party, particularly during the times of the Black Lives Matter movement and recent reviews, which touch on many of these issues, but it seems all too often working-class people or people generally from low-socioeconomic backgrounds are left behind in these reflections.

For me, as a young boy raised in a concrete tower block in a notoriously rough area of Glasgow, I was proudly raised by my single-parent mother in a low-income household, I decided not to go to university and worked several low paid jobs. My family’s history, my own economic uncertainty and social circumstances certainly earned me the label of working-class. It also meant at that time my inherited political party was likely to be Labour, the party that many seemed to accept around me with no questions asked at that time.

Now, I am a dedicated Liberal Democrat member and have been for some time, and I am now comfortable to say I feel at home. But there are times where I somehow feel quite disconnected and alone due to the class that I am inherently tied too.