As The Shockwave Passes

[poliphilo]

We got it wrong. We were so sure there'd be a coalition or minority government- and the Tories won a majority. We thought the two party system was finished- and it clearly isn't.

A lot of big names have gone. Ed Balls, Vince Cable, Danny Alexander. And three party leaders have stepped down. Boris Johnson is back in the Commons but in circumstances he can't be happy with. If Cameron had failed Johnson would have looked to take over, but Cameron's position- as winner of an unlikely victory- makes him unassailable for the forseeable future.

Ed Miliband will come to be seen as an interim leader- someone who held the fort between Blair and whoever it is that eventually takes Labour back into contention. The Tories had three interim leaders between Major and Cameron- Hague, IDS and Howard. I had to think hard to recall Howard's name- but that's how it goes with place holders. I imagine Miliband will fade from memory too. He was, I'm sorry to say, a very big mistake. Name any quality that a leader needs and Miliband lacked it.

Comments

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

I was really thinking we would have a hung parliament with no majority. i am speechless!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

How did we get it so wrong?

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

I didn't really follow the process which saw Miliband take the position. Was he genuinely the best of the crop? (A rather unsettling thought, I'd say)

I'm pleased he's gone. Not in any vindictive sense - he's probably a perfectly amiable guy, and I'd happily share an evening at the White Horse with him, discussing his hopes and dreams. But as the leader of an Opposition, he sadly failed entirely, preferring to propagate the Blair years further, and hence snuggled up to the Conservatives on some rather critical issues, notably the retroactive legislation on workfare and surveillance. (As did the LibDems)

But what next? The US political journey of the past forty years suggests this will be just another opportunity for another rightward slide, excused on the basis that clearly, they didn't appeal enough to those voting Conservative and UKIP. Though with Labour advocating even harsher treatment of benefits claimants, perhaps they'll simply jockey for position.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

We don't have a two party state! There's the SNP for a start. It makes PR look rather more attractive as the MP numbers don't reflect voters' intentions. However PR would give UKIP a shocking number of seats.