Inspirational son tipped to be Britain’s first black PM
Not many young men have their death marked by a tribute from the Prime Minister, but my son made such an impact in his short life that, last year, theresa May made a point of commemorating his courage.
three years earlier, aged just 18, Alexander had delivered a rousing speech at the Conservative Party Conference, speaking about the injustice he’d felt growing up as a bright, well-behaved schoolboy in South London due to the stop and search practices of the time.
His speech and subsequent campaigning had, as Mrs May told the Conservative Party Conference last year, ‘shaken up the system’ and helped reform stop and search practices. Alexander was ‘an inspiration’, she told delegates.
Such was my son’s determination and ambition to make a difference that some people marked him out as a future black prime minister.
Yet as fascinated as Alexander was by politics he was an accomplished all-rounder. From an early age he often took the lead in school plays, was scouted by Fulham FC for his footballing skills and, aged 15, was writing wonderful poems.
the few poems I read at the time showed a thoughtful and mature sensibility, but it was only after his death, when I came across several books of poems that he’d written, that I realised how prolific he was.
I’ve collated some of the most personal and powerful into a book called Climbing Clouds, Catching Comets — a line from one of my favourite poems — and theresa May’s former political adviser, Nick timothy, has written a beautiful foreword to it.
Alexander’s involvement with politics began when, as a sixthformer, he was among a group of pupils to meet Mrs May, then Home Secretary.
He formed a particular rapport with Nick, who became a mentor to him, keeping in touch when Alexander went on to Warwick University to study international politics, and arranging work experience at the Home office.
throughout it all Alexander kept writing and performing, developing his talents as a spoken word poet. through this he met the writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, who dedicated her recent book to him.
Who knows what Alexander might have gone on to achieve? But in March 2016, he collapsed after suffering a series of fits.
He was put into an induced coma and three days later he was fine. As tests progressed, however, we were given the devastating news that Alexander had glioblastoma, the same brain tumour as the late Dame tessa Jowell, and his condition deteriorated rapidly.
I cannot describe the heartbreak of seeing my handsome, charismatic, 6ft 2in son increasingly weakened until, in the end, he was bedridden.
Even then, he was determined to remain positive, helped by the Christian faith he found in the last two years of his life and retaining his intelligence, integrity and courage to the end.
At his funeral — just 15 months after he first collapsed — more than 800 people came to pay their respects. It’s a testament to all he achieved in his short life and my greatest wish is that he continues to inspire others.