InterviewBlog | In conversation with Marsha de Cordova
In conversation with Marsha de Cordova
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 23.09.22
Marsha is a lifelong activist for social justice issues. After a career in advocacy and campaigning, in 2017 she became MP for Battersea, Balham and Wandsworth in south London. She is a Labour MP and vice chair of Christians in Parliament. Marsha herself is registered blind and supports a wide range of charities through her parliamentary work.
Having first met Marsha at the Justice Conference 2020, this interview was held in January 2022. It shows Marsha’s deep concern for the UK’s social situation and role of government. It was printed in July 2022, during Boris Johnson’s resignation period.
LL You say that you consider it a privilege to be an MP?
MC Not everybody gets the opportunity to do what I do. There are 650 MPs and I think it’s important that all of us hold the office with great respect and to represent our constituencies.
LL What first drew you into politics?
MC My family always voted and I remember going to the polling station with my mum, but no one in the family worked in politics and I didn’t grow up saying I wanted to be an MP. However, I was incredibly driven and ambitious, and my life and career have been about wanting to make a difference. I was engaged with current affairs, reading the newspapers, so I was aware of what was going on as I was growing up during the 1980s. I remember the miners’ strike and getting passionate about the abhorrent apartheid regime in South Africa – that had a huge impact on me at a young age. I hugely admire Nelson Mandela who had his rights and his freedoms taken away from him because he was fighting for freedom for his people. His ability to forgive and reconcile with the oppressors resonates with me. I had the honour of meeting somebody who spent a few decades in prison with Mandela and heard his accounts of their journey – these were young men who wanted freedom and justice. Any regime that tries to oppress a nation of people based on the colour of their skin is not of God.
LL That ability to forgive must be something you encounter every day as an MP?
MC Forgiveness is very important but people should also be held accountable and acknowledge when they have done wrong. Jesus modelled his life in love and compassion, but he was a strong advocate for justice as well. That is what I focus on in Parliament, ensuring a better future for everyone.
LL Yes! I noticed that your website is set up to help people.
