Following a fairly uninspired four-week campaign, this morning we see new Labour returned with a much reduced majority. The BBC’s Exit Poll appears to have been accurate. So what does this mean for the country? Well, the increased showing for the opposition parties hopefully means that such authoritarian agenda as the identity cards bill will be scuppered when it goes through the House of Commons. I hope, but I’m not optimistic. Despite Mr Blair’s claims of listening to the electorate following the dramatic reduction in Labour vote, I suspect that once ensconced in No 10 Downing Street, it will be business as usual and the electorate can go hang the next four or five years.
Locally I registered a protest vote. The local Labour candidate, Roger Berry, was returned with a reduced majority, which was in line with the national average. Interestingly, the Conservative candidate, Owen Inskip, increased his vote as well as Geoff Brewer, the Liberal Democrat. So the swing here was both towards the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. And my protest vote? Well, given our first-past-the-post electoral system, it was a waste. Pretty much as I expected. No change there, then.
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