A little light conversation

Little black dress in coastal mode

This was a small and select gathering at a cheese and wine event in Farncombe. Two of Ariane’s oldest friends, Penny and Paul, live in a house near the station. Ariane’s more recent friend Yvonne has just moved from Guildford to a street in Farncombe not far from them. So the girl thought (yes thought: who says space can’t be conquered?) that it would be good to connect them with each other.

Penny and Paul kindly agreed to host the event. So Ariane turned up with a couple of bottles of wine, to complement their cheeseboard. Stilton, Brie, and Cornish Yarg: meet an Italian red (Amarone) and a French white (Louis Latour burgundy). Ariane’s outfit for this event was a little black dress with pearls and heels. I’m sorry to say that the other three turned up in casual wear. What can you do?

It was so good for me to be Ariane again. The makeup is convincing, the dressing is a delight, and the look and feel are totally natural.

This was basically a get-to-know-you event bringing my friends together. As it happens, all of us are politically-aware and progressive, so the forthcoming election was one of our main topics. Here in the revised constituency of Godalming and Ash, the latest IPSOS poll suggests that our incumbent Conservative MP, Jeremy Hunt, might just hold off the challenge of young Lochinvar himself, the Lib Dem Paul Follows.

But the polling does not dig deep enough into local factors. Labour have a candidate – they have to field someone everywhere – but the order from on high is not to campaign too hard. Although the party leadership will not officially sanction tactical voting, they really want Jeremy Hunt to lose his seat. It’s nothing personal, just that he’s a big name and toppling him would be significant.

Likewise the Greens, who unaccountably parachuted in someone from London at the last-minute. I don’t think she has actually been seen yet. The local Green presence are fully aware that their best hope of a progressive victory is to allow the Lib Dems centre stage – even though the Lib Dem campaign has not treated them with the respect they deserve.

The other progressive party, the Women’s Equality Party, are fielding a candidate, but I don’t think she’s been seen either. That’s a shame as their female-friendly policies strongly appeal to me. Anyway, the progressive campaign is as focussed as it can be. It will be interesting to see the hustings event in Godalming on Sunday 30 June. Almost all the candidates will be there (except the WEP who I understand are not available).

And what of the parties of the right? Jeremy Hunt has been distancing himself from the government in some ways (critical of Rishi Sunak’s actions in lockdown), but aligning himself with the government in others (endorsing some of the things Liz Truss was trying to achieve). His campaign slogan is Local Champion, National Voice. Sometimes the local and national come into conflict. For example, he spoke out against fracking locally, but voted for it when Parliament debated the issue.

Finally, enter stage right, the Reform candidate, standing on a no-nonsense platform of populist measures. The party manifesto, or contract, stands opposed in every way to all the things that matter to me (on gender issues and the environment in particular). But I was never going to vote for them anyway. I was amused by their positioning on the election leaflet that arrived yesterday. Apparently they are the only ‘centre-right’ party in this election. That was news to me. If the blue end of the spectrum comprises centre-right, right-wing, and far-right, there are two right-wing parties standing in this constituency, against two centre-left and two left-wing parties. The UK does not have a national centre-right party any more.

We shall see how many votes Reform take off the Conservatives in Godalming and Ash. This is not the red wall of northern England. Our part of Surrey largely voted remain and is one of the more prosperous areas of the country. There is no significant populist discontent here.

Roll on 4 July, when Ariane and her bottle of Chateau d’Yquem plan to spend election night in front of the TV in the company of Penny and Paul in Farncombe – at least until they head off to the election HQ for the announcement of the result around 4.00am.

Back to the cheese and wine party, where my old and new friends got on very well indeed. Mission accomplished. I did a good thing there.

Tags: UK election