A few things that annoyed me about the General Election
Thank goodness the whole damn thing is over – the general election I mean - it wasn’t that I have grown even more cynical & apathetic, its just the whole campaign was even more bland than cheap supermarket cheese. No party came up with any original thinking nor anything that remotely constituted a new idea. The same old politicians, the same old pap…repackaged – how all very Nu Labour.
The politicians talked rubbish, the pollsters produced meaningless graphs & even the terrorists that took a pop at the British High Commission in New York didn’t make a decent fist of it. Frankly, as a lot of us bulldogs are quite used to Shamus O’Pondlife blowing hell out of London, a couple of firecrackers outside an 8th floor office is highly unlikely to bring the British electoral machine to a grinding halt – hardly the most stunning manifestation for the dark forces of international terrorism – must try harder…
Anyway, by now, just about every child under the age of two has recovered from being kissed by parliamentary candidates at least 2.435 times– so much so, that apparently one candidate has been placed on the sex offenders register & 17.4% of all toddlers are currently in counselling. Rosette manufacturers are reaching for the Kuoni brochures & even the most verbose of political pundits has just about run out of things to analyse & comment upon. Well not quite, because for what its worth, here are a few little observations from your humble correspondent; think of it, if you will a little list of things that have had the red mist descending round at Free Market Towers on election night & over the preceding five weeks, such as …
1. A stupid system that awards my little Toni a thumping parliamentary majority when he only gets what, 35.2% of the national vote. Hardly a stunning mandate. However, listening to him carp on about his ‘historic third term’ you might be forgiven for thinking that just about every man & woman in the country had voted for him – other than the 3 people that actually voted for Veritas. But to put this in perspective, only 22% of those eligible to vote, backed my little Toni.
2. The Electoral Commission for actually sending a voting card to one Algernon Mouse, who it seems lives just off the Fulham Road. Guys; seriously, when you saw the A. Mouse, who gave his address as 32 Acacia Avenue, didn’t any of you think to ask the next question?? Numpties!
3. The nanger at the BBC that considered that the Newsnight programme was so important that it needed to lease a helicopter for the duration of the campaign. I bet if it was their own money or they were answerable to shareholders they wouldn’t have spunked away that sort of money on self aggrandisement & pointless toys.
4. With the exception of the gargantuan Nicholas Soames (a man so generously proportioned, he has his own ring road) why on earth do all candidates adopt such bland dress codes? As Mrs FM commented the other night,
“My my, the cheap suits shop must have done well out of that little lot.”
As for the shirts, here is a little tip for any prospective candidates … its ok to wear a shirt that isn’t white. Of course, the candidates of the Monster Raving Loony Party are excluded from this comment – I mean we all want to vote for someone dressed a giant chocolate éclair – at least it wasn’t yet another bl**dy white shirt.
5. Oh, while we are on the subject of dress sense, I must take this opportunity to commend certain members of the Scottish National Party on some of their heroic shirt & tie combinations – there were more brown shirts than in Bavarian Beerkeller. Looking at that little lot, maybe Scotland really should have independence on the grounds of crimes against all that is well tailored & sartorially elegant.
6. Charles ‘bottle a day’ Kennedy for turning up to his constituency count at two in the morning with his wife & 10 day old nipper. I hope you get the six o’clock knock from social services. Photo opportunism is one thing … wandering the streets in the small hours with wife & child is all very well if you are a member what is laughably called our ‘itinerant community’ but hardly a way to behave if you are the leader of the third largest political party in the UK
7. At the risk of incurring more abuse from the ‘We Love Paula Ratbag Brigade’ … Michael ‘quitter’ Howard. Having put in a reasonable performance & taken a huge chunk out of the socialist majority – you throw the towel in the next day. It makes me really really glad that I didn’t vote for you. All those poor punters that put their faith in you & supported you with their votes must be feeling really good this evening. I bet they now all wish that they had voted for that giant éclair.
& finally …
now the election is over, politicians of whatever hue, will immediately cease telling all & sundry that they are only want to serve the constituents & will get back to behaving as they usually do – lording it over all of us & patronising the same voters whose indulgence they craved only a few days ago. Ba**ards!
Comments
I have to agree with you about "Michael ‘quitter’ Howard"; whilst it might have been sensible for him to go in good time before the next general election, rather than announce it immediately, it would have been far better for him to spend some time basking in a reasonable performance and really rubbing Blair's face in it (pointing out that the Conservatives won most votes in England, that without UKIP and Veritas would have reduced Blair's majority to a mere 25 seats etc etc).
Leading a party that loses a campaign may not be a pleasant or easy job, but any party leader knows that the possibility exists. If they're not prepared to take on this aspect, they shouldn't take on the job. He owed it to all those who helped/supported him and the party, to leave a decent interval before announcing that he was going.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 9, 2005 1:58 PM
You should set few tons of gunpowder under parliment and remove them... finsih off what old mr Fawkes failed to do.
Then try MMP voting tlike we have her ein GodZone (New Zealand)
Posted by: Rhys | May 15, 2005 11:20 PM