All those moments will be lost in time
The only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.
Ted Hughes
This personal blog covers politics from a Democratic Pluralist perspective, lifelong love of Leeds United, books and movie reviews, and the occasional post on running a small business.
With the upheavals of Brexit, populist ascent of Boris Johnson as prime minister, COVID and its impact on liberalism, and culture wars, the traditional model of two party politics is becoming increasingly outdated.
From a working class Northern background with many years as a member of the Labour Party and UNISON (previously NALGO) I aim to analyse political issues in how we are moving towards a new post-Left (and Right) political landscape.
My career is in local government has given me knowledge of community safety, local regeneration and education (including being a school governor). During the COVID pandemic I took on additional responsibilities with how a council responded to local needs, and volunteered as a local community champion.
In the last ten years I have become a business owner alongside my wife which has given me insight into challenges business face with the decline of the high street and impact of the COVID pandemic.
With the arrival of Leeds United into the Premier League after sixteen years I document the third era of the club – following Don Revie and then Howard Wilkinson. Whilst Marcelo Bielsa was a father figure at the club I now follow the team with Farke at the helm.
Finally, I document life through lens with photography from my travels and local nature.
I was an economic migrant during the Eighties. Moving from Lancashire to London I quickly learned about class politics and bias against Northerners.
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Where to find me on social media:
A side hobby is website management – I run our business website Ashnaabeauty.co.uk.
My early years was a time of my life was when I faced my own demons. For the first time in my life I learned about recurrent depression within me that I live with to this day. The cover photo is from a tree on my run on my local moor – a peaceful place under the tree.
My curriculum vitae covers my skills in service planning and implementation, and delivering on performance. My expertise stretches across a number of service areas including regeneration, employment and training, project management, and adult and community learning.
Never has my working life faced such challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic. From a standing start we had to reconfigure our adult learning service from face to face to online enrolment and delivery, and figure out how we were going to keep the salon business alive during lockdowns and tier restrictions. On the business side I supported my wife with how to keep the company solvent whilst so many around closed – and are still closing – due to loss of footfall caused by the pandemic. I have also had the honour of being a COVID Champion in my village.
A List of Favourites
| Movie | Bladerunner |
| Novel | Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson |
| Song | Song to the Siren by This Mortal Coil |
| Game | Civilization by Firaxis |
| Place | North Yorkshire Kettlewell – a peculiar abode of peace and natural beauty |