Election 2005 II...

Yes, I know you come here for the sex, dear reader, but I write for me. Don't worry, I'll be back to sex soon (not for you but because it obsesses me)...

Well, we have another Labour government. However, it has the weakest mandate of any majority parliament in modern history. Just 36% of the vote and 22% of the electorate put the government in power (the Conservatives polled 33%). Unfair? Perhaps, but I will not rail against the UK's “first past the post” electoral system - it has delivered remarkable stability in the country, whereas proportional representation would have lead to decades of paralysis and political fighting, IMHO. It brings to mind the words of Winston Churchill,

“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all
the others...”

Though Winston also said,

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

So what have we got? Tony Blair, memorably once termed “the strangest Tory ever sold” by The Economist, is in with a vastly reduced majority - inflicting on him the “bloody nose” that media commentators had demanded the electorate inflict on him. “Hooray”, his critics may say. Blair's principle mistake in office has been to take to heart a single Marxist maxim (except, unsurprisingly, it was taken from Groucho not Karl...),

“The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.”

The British people have become sick of him as a result. Where does Blair's insincerity come from?

To understand the obsession for spin, tyrannical control of the party and a decided flexibility when it comes to political principle, it is necessary to understand the New Labour that Tony has created. When he took over the party, it was at the extreme left of British politics (though moving toward the centre). It still clung to “Clause 4” - the commitment to take the whole economy into public ownership (ah, at last, the other Marx brother...) - which had to go. He had to unify the party behind a combination of Seventies, old-world, "one nation" Tory policies (yes, Conservative policies), rephrased for the Nineties, and a tacit acceptance of the "hated" Thatcherite restructuring that had already re-envigorated the economy. To regain the centre ground (where the bulk of voters live), it was necessary to hijack the natural ground of the Tories. He was also pragmatic enough to realise that Thatcher's reforms had been essential and should not be undone - it was their presentation that needed to be changed to make them palatable to the electorate. It is not surprising that in reaching out unashamedly to the left, right and centre, he had some problems appearing sincere...

So, I don't like him, I don't like New Labour. The Labour Party is in power with a vastly reduced majority (albeit with a far from ringing mandate). So what's the problem? Well, Labour has been long on rhetoric and short on action for two terms - initiatives are launched and relaunched as though they are new policies but are subtle reworkings of the old - principally due to the need to keep this unholy alliance of disparate political views stable (to ensure his own re-election). Now that he will stand down, he has the chance to push through some real action - reform of the delivery of public services to ensure better productivity (particularly the NHS), democratic reform of the House of Lords, tackling the pensions crisis, dealing with disability welfare. These are issues that a Conservative government will never be able to address, as it needs the "caring" Labour Party to deal with these issues in a cold-hearted, brutal way.

However, we have crippled the Blair's ability to deliver on any of those thorny issues. We are in for more fudge and obfuscation. As Alexis de Toqueville once noted

"Democracy is like a raft. You never sink, but your feet are always wet."

So, to summarise this election in the words of a little known American politician, Dick Tuck, who after losing an election remarked:

"The people have spoken. The bastards."

Enjoy...