The General Election: my take...

Strange

Ah, the 2005 general election. An election where the turnout fell (if you strip out postal voting), the winner's share fell to as low as Simon Amstell's trousers and where the Tories somehow managed to gain 50 seats yet grew their share nationally by something like 0.5% (roughly the percentage of hairs on Paul Mccartney's head that are their real colour).

Strange indeed. So we now have a prime minister whom the 4th estate will be pushing out of office by rumour mongering alone and a Tory party seeking a fourth leader since Major (ah, currie shagging Mr Peas, doesn't it seem decades ago since he was PM? And it was only 1997!). I was saddened at the lack of progress from the Lib Dems but, you cannot forget that the swing to them was most probably shallow and temporary due to voters wanting merely to wag their fingers at Blair about Iraq than get close to allowing the yellow party to usurp the Tories as the official opposition.

Honest

My feeling is that the Lib Dems are at least honest. What party would not be honest whilst it pledges to add a layer of income tax for the top 1%? How credible and talented their MPs are in comparison I really don't know. It's a bit like Shaun Murphy winning the snooker World Championship, he didn't look like a world-beating professional sportsman but he turned out to be a record breaker. Is this how the Lib Dems may surprise us if they ever sniffed the Brasso of Number 10's knocker?

Majority reduced

But Blair has lost 100 seats and this means he cannot assume all legislation will fly throw the Commons any longer. Which can only be a good thing. And George Galloway is still an MP. And, by god, will he make full use of this fact!

I fully expect Blair to stay as party leader and PM until the European Constitution referendum (you'd forgotten about that tedious debate hadn't you) and then, regardless of the result, resign as party leader but stay as PM. Then, the new party leader is elected and Blair hands over the reigns probably as the next election hoves into view. This is my prediction based on virtually no evidence.

Good riddance

Good riddance, Howard, by the way. The man makes my food go cold as I watch his Gollumish face contort to a friendly grandfather's in trying to explain why every problem in the nation from immigration to MRSA boils down purely and simply to discipline and law and order. In other words, his facial "velvet glove" is trying to soften the iron fist he was attempting to apply to every area of government responsibility. Of course, pretty much all of his measures have no guarantees that they will make the slightest improvement in the country. But that's the Tories for you.

Now, when Israel bombs Iran, we'll see what happens and who is prime minister at the time. I only hope to god that, if Brown becomes PM, he doesn't lick cowboy arse quite as much as Blair.