It's the little things

I awoke this morning to just another groundhog day. Make tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Brush teeth. Shower. Iron shirt (yes, I am a modern man). Then I remembered that there was an election on and that most of the results should be in by now. Meh.

I was disappointed in the total lack of excitement. Should I finish ironing the shirt before moving the 6 feet needed to turn the TV on or not? I decided that my ’63 bikini beach babe tour shirt demanded my undivided attention.

When I finally got round to looking up the scores I was content with most of what I saw at first. The big news of the day is the dramatic drop in the Labour majority which is a good thing for everybody, hard core Labour supporters (conservative or not) included. “Good for democracy” I thought. But then one has to consider this in the context of the number of people who voted Labour against the number who didn’t. Some figure around 36% of the vote for a government is not good for democracy. So it’s 1-1 with no extra time to play.

The Tories made some progress this time round a fact for which I have mixed feelings. They helped reduce the Labour vote and for that they deserve thanks. However, they need to change to a party of small government with a rather more aggressive outlook towards EU integration before I can joyfully support them again. Their progress in this election will not encourage them down that path and that is the biggest feeling of loss that I have this morning.

UKIP who? Did they win a seat? I’ve not been able to find out yet but I somehow doubt it. The hope that I have is that they did cost the Tory party two or three seats and that the Tory party noticed. At least that would be something.

I think the biggest story for me that has yet to be fully answered is what affect the aggressive campaigning of the fox hunters has had on rural Labour seats. Drake over at The Edge of England’s Sword notes:

…here's a piece of wonderful news: Peter Bradley, PPS to Countryside Minister Alun Michael and a man who was unafraid to dismiss the Countryside Alliance as 'the last hurrah of the feudal system' when they pointed out how much of his seat was rural, just lost The Wrekin.

That does fill me with joy. A last hurrah that just so happened to slap that particular fool onto his arse. I will drink to that and any other similar victory.

This is what the Telegraph had to say about Bradley earlier this year:

Until last autumn Mr Bradley was the largely unknown Labour MP for The Wrekin, a small constituency in the heart of Shropshire. Then, as parliamentary private secretary to Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, Mr Bradley propelled himself into the spotlight when he wrote a controversial article in The Telegraph about hunting. He said: "We ought at last to own up to it: the struggle over the Bill was not just about animal welfare and personal freedom, it was class war."

This is what Mr. Bradley’s web site has to say at the time of going to press:

Welcome to my website! I want my constituents – and anyone else who's interested – to know what I am doing, in Westminster, in The Wrekin and elsewhere.

This is what TheyWorkForYou.com have to say about Bradley this very morning:

Former Labour MP for Wrekin, The

It’s the little things, you know.

Posted by John at May 6, 2005 08:58 AM | TrackBack