THE LADY BALLS BLOG

Why The Lady Balls Blog?

In 2006, I took part in my first Fathers4Justice (F4J) demonstration. On Saturday 20th May 2006, six F4J protestors took the BBC’s National Lottery Show off air, and I was front and centre with the “Family Law Lotto - Next Time It Could Be You” Campaign. The protest came after we had suspended the group for a few months to investigate false claims in the national press about a kidnap plot. We returned that night on the second anniversary of the group's notorious flour-bomb attack in the House of Commons which saw the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, hit by condom, filled with purple powder and glitter, hurled from the public gallery by Guy Harrison. Mr Blair was unhurt, but Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, immediately suspended the sitting halfway through the session. Likewise in May 2006, the National Lottery was suspended, with Alan Dedicoat, the BBC announcer and "voice of the balls" in the draw, forced to improvise a commentary while we left the studio. The show later resumed for the week's £29m Superdraw jackpot.

And that is where it came from. My then husband, and Founder of F4J, Matt O’Connor, nicknamed me “Lady Balls” not only because of the lottery ball connection but because he said I had “bigger balls” than most dad’s he knew because I was fearless in taking on the challenge of the protest and the risks that came with that, and later running the campaign group.