I’m Luke Tinkler, a 30-year-old northerner from Durham – I always refer to myself as “northern” rather than “English” or “British”. I’m immensely proud to be from the north-east. I joined Labour after the last election, and we are an island of red in a sea of blue. I’m married to my beautiful wife Sarah-Jane (her bank card now reads STinkler) and we live with our two dogs, Milly and Ruby and two cats, Blue and Beau.
I have moved about a fair bit. As a child I lived in Bristol and Cornwall and then later in Manchester and Cameroon, where I volunteered at a chimpanzee sanctuary. Being away from my wife in a French-speaking country with no electricity or running water was daunting but the fact I was helping abused chimps made up for it. One day my wife and I would like to buy some land in the middle of nowhere and open an animal sanctuary for abused farm animals. At the moment I am working as a researcher in a local education centre.
I’m a committed vegan and environmentalist, with concerns about the overpopulation of the planet (my wife and I have decided not to reproduce but may adopt). Being vegan has opened my eyes to other social injustices – it was the greatest decision I ever made. When not hugging trees, wearing “pleather” sandals and crunching on granola I’m just a normal bloke – I play football for three different teams, walk my dogs, and go out for the occasional session on the town with my mates. Last year I made my amateur boxing debut, and I volunteer for a local cat shelter. A lot of my spare time is taken up by cleaning out cat litter trays and walking around wearing kitten trousers. It can be difficult as you get attached to them but we play a role in ensuring the houses where they go are suitable.
I love the Guardian. Before I had my eyes opened, I would only read newspapers for the sport. One day someone commented that as a liberal person, I shouldn’t be reading rightwing papers. I haven’t looked back. My favourite articles are by George Monbiot and Owen Jones, and I particularly liked the election series by John Harris. The “week in wildlife” pictures are my favourite aspect of the website – simply stunning. But I dislike the troll-like comments on articles that I am very passionate about. The best thing to do is ignore them.
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