‘Christmas comes but once a year,' my mother was apt to sing out on Christmas Eve, ‘but when it comes, it brings good cheer.'
Since this was 1945 and my father (the politician Frank Pakenham) was due to stand for Parliament in the coming summer general election - in the Labour interest, in Oxford - I though it tactful to ask, ‘Will Father Christmas vote Labour?'
My mother did not seem to like the political question very much. ‘Of course he will vote Labour,' she snapped, ‘and bring us a lot of good things, just as Labour will.' Clem Attlee duly won.
That night, our uncle John Harman arrived for Christmas: he was our mother's unmarried brother. He later went on to marry and become the father of the distinguished…
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The Oldie (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 2025