Verbena Daphne Brighton (B. 1915) Politics, Protest & Class

There is no mention of politics in Brighton’s memoir, the original version from the John Burnett archive or her published version Nuts ‘n May. The absense of her political opinion could imply that she was not politically minded and that politics did not affect her lifestyle. As discovered in her memoir, Brighton appears to be of an upper working class, so perhaps due to her comfortable position she does not feel the pressure to protest or have a political identity. Lower working class labour voters may be more enclined to take part in political protest as they would like change to their class.

As her memoir is an account of her childhood in Norfolk it could be suggested that she was too young to understand politics, however she doesn’t mention anything about her parents voting opinions either which indicates that politics was not greatly significant in her household.

As politics are not present in her memoir, it is clear that her memoir was not produced for political research purposes. She has not mentioned any famous working-class political movements within her childhood memories or Norfolk as a political constituency.