Yorkshire Bylines writer Vicky Seddon, who died on 21 August, was truly formidable and will be remembered for her campaigning zeal and contribution to democratic renewal. Our paths crossed significantly over the last 30 years, and we became friends as well as what felt like outriders on some issues.
Vicky and I first met at Sheffield Hallam University where I was lecturing and she was head of student counselling service – as well as being an active member of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education, serving as regional secretary for Yorkshire.
The intersection though was through Charter 88, a direct response to Thatcherism in the 1980s. I was an early signatory to it – in fact I shamelessly used much of their material for my politics lectures. Vicky was there from the start and became chair of Charter 88’s council in 2005. Meanwhile I left a well-paid job to take up the mantle of one of Charter 88s aims – “Guarantee an equitable distribution of power between the nations of the United Kingdom and between local, regional and central government” – establishing Campaign for Yorkshire and Campaign for the English Regions.
This is when Vicky and I began to work together in earnest – encouraging each other to come to our various mutual meetings and campaign events. We did come from quite different places politically, but we met very neatly in the middle over constitutional reform. I learned a huge amount from Vicky’s vast knowledge and experience. And with us both living in Sheffield I used to meet up with Vicky over – surprise, surprise – a glass of wine or two.
Charter 88 merged with the New Politics Network and Unlock Democracy was born out of this union. Vicky chaired Unlock Democracy from 2010 to 2016. She had a national role in the ill-fated referendum on the alternative vote where I had a bit part as a paid regional organiser – called by the BBC rather snidely as the Forgotten Referendum of 2011. Although it was an overwhelming victory for the status quo, the question of a fair voting system has not gone away. Indeed if you look at the one of the thorniest things being debated in parliament at the moment it is the issue of proportional representation.
Shaken but not stirred, Vicky continued to campaign tirelessly and when she stepped down from Charter 88 she became chair of Sheffield for Democracy – a campaign group advocating for greater transparency, accountability, and representation in our politics. And not one to shy away from a referendum she was an active campaigner during the EU referendum of 2016 where myself and others were organising a local Stronger IN Europe group.
To complete this circle, my final job before retiring was to work on an Unlock Democracy project that was advocating for civil society against the worst impacts of Brexit – the Brexit Civil Society Alliance. And yes, more informal meetings with Vicky, more wine. In fact, we had taken to having annual drinks in her lovely front garden of which she was very proud.
Vicky was not just a campaigner but an accomplished writer. In fact, I hope she is remembered as much for her passionate advocacy for women, often writing about violence against women and girls and sexual harassment as well authoring The Cutting Edge: Women and the Pit Strike, published in 1986.
She would have loved this time in politics – as indeed do I. Yes, there is of course the threat of a resurgence of the far right along with the real threat of violence and intimidation faced by many in public life, there is the impact of AI and social media and there is still a cost-of-living crisis, but there is a freshness of debate. There is the possibility of real regional devolution, of movement on a fairer voting system, the possibility of closer ties with Europe – and votes at 16. Vicky would thrive on all of this.
She will be remembered by many for her kindness, her honesty, and her intellectual capacity to grasp the nettle as well as her tenacity. She made a mark both here in Sheffield and nationally – and her contribution to the democratic renewal movement is significant. I will remember her as a good friend and someone who I was lucky enough to have crossed paths with so much during my life. A life well lived.
Rest well, Vicky.
Charter 88’s proposed constitutional settlement
1. Enshrine by means of a Bill of Rights, such civil liberties as the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of association, to freedom from discrimination, to freedom from detention without trial, to trial by jury, to privacy and to freedom of expression.
2. Subject executive powers and prerogatives, by whomsoever exercised, to the rule of law.
3. Establish freedom of information and open government.
4. Create a fair electoral system of proportional representation.
5. Reform the upper house to establish a democratic, non-hereditary second chamber.
6. Place the executive under the power of a democratically renewed parliament and all agencies of the state under the rule of law.
7. Ensure the independence of a reformed judiciary.
8. Provide legal remedies for all abuses of power by the state and by officials of central and local government.
9. Guarantee an equitable distribution of power between the nations of the UK and between local, regional and central governments.
10. Draw up a written constitution, anchored in the idea of universal citizenship, which incorporates these reforms.
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