Philobiblon

One of the things that I’ve noticed on the doorstep around St Pancras and Somers Town in this and previous election is the enthusiasm among the Somali community for democracy and engagement with it.

I think it was the European elections, or it might have been the GLAs, when I knocked on the door of a group of middle-aged women who’d clearly been having an afternoon coffee. They were absolutely delighted to have a canvasser at their door, proudly showed off their polling cards, which they were carrying around with them, and explained their understanding of the voting system.

And today, I met the latest in a long series of serious, considering voters – or in this case voters’ helper. She didn’t have a vote herself, she said, since she was only visiting from The Netherlands, but she was collecting literature from all of the parties and would be explaining it carefully and in an unbiased way, to two relatives who couldn’t read English, so they could make a considered decision.

I believed her – and I’m sure the explanation will be a good one – for we then went on to have a debate about voting systems and the virtues of proportional representation, and while she might not have known all of the terminology, she had certainly thought about the issues, and had been comparing the British and Dutch voting systems (with some bemusement at the unrepresentative nature of the former).

I’ve no idea how any of those women did or will vote, but I can only delight in their delight in democracy.