Lana Hempsall is an entrepreneur and business coach, Conservative councillor, and the CPF National Discussion Lead for Transport.
Last month, I accompanied Charlotte Salomon, then the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich North, on a guided walk with the Royal National Institute for Blind People.
Guided walks, or blindfold walks as they used to be referred to, basically consist of a practical experience of navigating a busy urban streetscape wearing specialist eyewear that mimics certain eye conditions, using a long cane, and supported by a sighted assistant. The walks are designed to help decision-makers at both local and national levels gain awareness of what living with sight loss is like when getting out and about. I’d never witnessed one of these exercises, so I was grateful when Salomon brought me along for the afternoon.
I’ve lived with sight loss since I was 15 and got my first guide dog when I was 29. I won’t use a long cane and am currently between guide dogs because Zorin, my last guide, died unexpectedly in December last year. Issues with the accessibility of my local area in Kingston upon Thames, where I used to live, are the reason I ended up in politics. Persuading the right people in the right places to make meaningful investments into creating safe environments for people with all manner of physical and sensory difficulties became my passion and way of life.
Along the way, from becoming a parish, then district and county councillor, getting a comprehensive pass on the parliamentary list, and serving in the Cabinet at Norfolk County Council, it became clear how fraught with difficulty this topic is.
Opinions on what is an accessible environment vary, and even with national guidance issued by the DFT, it’s still only guidance, and trends in this sector change more rapidly than the infrastructure investment can keep up with. When I served on the Transforming Cities board, I remember clearly that even when we went out to consultation, meaningful feedback would usually be lacking from disability groups, and sadly, sighted people who take up “being offended” on our behalf often completely miss the mark.
My worst moment was when my bid to create a framework for 20-minute neighbourhoods as a template for urban spaces that would lend themselves to independence for disabled people met with global levels of hatred. By sheer coincidence, a campaign with a similar name that was set up as open warfare on motorists swept the world.
My social media went nuts and at a public meeting in Thetford, the baying mob accused me of being a World Economic Forum puppet. They scoffed at my explanation that my intention was anything but what they imagined. I learned that reason will never persuade a conspiracy theorist, especially when they are using the upswell of emotions to propel themselves into power.
So, back on the guided walk, I was disappointed that what I hoped would be a positive experience for Salomon, in my opinion, descended into unrealistic lobbying across the piece relating to all matters of urban landscape and transport in Norwich. Parts of the city were condemned as unsafe simply due to the “wrong” design and colour of tactile paving in places, and nitpicking over minor issues missed out on some fundamental flaws that I have now flagged with the county council highways officers myself.
And then the final straw. I knew that Salomon and I would be asked to support the latest campaign, which I was expecting to have something to do with planning or transport. Wrong. Capitalising separate words in hashtags on social media and audio description of image content (which is largely done by social media platform AI these days anyway).
I love the RNIB, and I have much to be thankful for, as they were instrumental in helping me secure my place on the physiotherapy course I attended in Manchester. I’ve been a volunteer model for a fundraising fashion show for Vision Norfolk and have been a speaker and ambassador for Guide Dogs for the Blind since I was matched with my first guide dog, Sarge.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years of living with my less-than-perfect sight, it’s that nothing, quite literally nothing, will replace what my eyes cannot see and that I am ultimately responsible for my own experience of the world. Compromise and making sure I focus on what really, truly can make a difference in an environment that is strapped for cash and only a limited amount of money can be spent because there is simply not enough to do everything that could be done.
What did Salomon make of the experience? “Eye-opening,” of course. Just like the day on my physio course when my tutorial group got sent off on the streets of Manchester in wheelchairs to get a taste of what it feels like to be dependent on dropped kerbs, automatic doors, and aisles in shops wide enough to let you access the shelves. I’m fairly confident she, in her future political career, will never forget this experience, and it has shaped a young politician for the better.
I will say one thing though, not just to the RNIB, but any other lobbying organisation out there, especially those dear to me that support people with disabilities. Please, please, focus on something relevant that will make a difference and ensure you are targeting the right person at the right level.
Overloading a future MP with matters that are in the remit of the county council or city council simply muddies the water and blurs the message. Dragging up every single complaint going, “kitchen sinking” as it’s often called, when literally every issue going back decades is lumped into a two-hour session won’t get anyone anywhere.
Break it down into manageable, relevant chunks and give credit where credit is due, even when the politician you are speaking with is of a different political persuasion than you. Politics is a game of swings and roundabouts. I have worked ridiculously hard to get to where I am in politics.
Nobody, but nobody, has given me any concessions on the way for being registered blind, especially not the electorate. And yet what is really crystal clear after the guided walk experience is that we need more disabled people as elected councillors and most definitely MPs. Shaping policy that directly affects disabled people is so much more meaningful when disabled people are not just involved as consultants, but decision-makers as well.
I have been proudly Conservative all my adult life. My sincere hope is, that as we build our party, both at the grassroots and parliamentary level we can find more space to include disabled people in our leadership roles.
