Hindsight is a wonderful thing and come last Friday evening, I was wishing that I'd backed a Tory majority by a much larger stake than I actually did. Ok, I won a few quid but I could have bought a new car based on the hunch that became reality.
How did they do it? It's left many people shaking their heads, crying foul and insulting those who
dared to vote Conservative. The Tories won simply because people don't like change. This is especially true when the alternative to the status quo isn't just unknown but also looks and sounds like a bloody shambles.
Truth be known things aren't that bad in the World today. Of course if you're a rabid bolshie or a Guardian reader then it's akin to the last days of Rome. However, for most of us we're quite happy with our lot and content to let things be. Obama, who isn't the most popular US President of all time got a second term based on this and now David Cameron is reaping the benefits of this mood too.
There are issues in the world that need addressing. There are issues in my home town that need addressing too but more of that later. But for people to throw caution to the wind and opt for a political revolution of sorts then the alternative has both inspire and be attractive. This last happened in my country in 1997 with the rise of Nu Labour and Tony Blair. Whatever you think of Anthony Charles Lyton Blair (not much in my case), he knew what the UK electorate wanted to hear and he knew how to deliver it in an easy to digest format.
The fact that Labour won three elections under Blair while running a 'Tory lite' administration tells you all you need to know. The British people have rejected socialism in it's many guises since 1974 and they did once again last week. Ed Miliband was a trade union stooge which everyone apart from himself seemed to acknowledge. He wasn't even the choice to be leader the party for most of its MPs, but yet they still expected the British people to elect him Prime Minster when most of them didn't want him to be party leader.
The main gist of Labour's election strategy seemed to be a return to the politics of envy left behind by most of the civilised World years ago. Pointing at things and saying they'll tax them, vilifying people for having a large house and a large stone slab in a bloody garden is not the basis for good Government.
So what about my hometown, Middlesbrough? Well once again they've voted like lemmings for the guy wearing a red rosette. This time around it wasn't just the parliamentary elections but also the vote for the elected Mayor of the Town.
As it happens the Labour lemmings have surpassed themselves. For nearly thirty years they re-elected an MP who lived in France but this time around they've elected a Mayor who doesn't even support the position he's been appointed to. That's right the newly elected Mayor for Middlesbrough campaigned for the position to be abolished a few short years ago before deciding that he'd quite like the job after all.
How did they do it? It's left many people shaking their heads, crying foul and insulting those who dared to vote Conservative. The Tories won simply because people don't like change. This is especially true when the alternative to the status quo isn't just unknown but also looks and sounds like a bloody shambles.
Truth be known things aren't that bad in the World today. Of course if you're a rabid bolshie or a Guardian reader then it's akin to the last days of Rome. However, for most of us we're quite happy with our lot and content to let things be. Obama, who isn't the most popular US President of all time got a second term based on this and now David Cameron is reaping the benefits of this mood too.
There are issues in the world that need addressing. There are issues in my home town that need addressing too but more of that later. But for people to throw caution to the wind and opt for a political revolution of sorts then the alternative has both inspire and be attractive. This last happened in my country in 1997 with the rise of Nu Labour and Tony Blair. Whatever you think of Anthony Charles Lyton Blair (not much in my case), he knew what the UK electorate wanted to hear and he knew how to deliver it in an easy to digest format.
The fact that Labour won three elections under Blair while running a 'Tory lite' administration tells you all you need to know. The British people have rejected socialism in it's many guises since 1974 and they did once again last week. Ed Miliband was a trade union stooge which everyone apart from himself seemed to acknowledge. He wasn't even the choice to be leader the party for most of its MPs, but yet they still expected the British people to elect him Prime Minster when most of them didn't want him to be party leader.
The main gist of Labour's election strategy seemed to be a return to the politics of envy left behind by most of the civilised World years ago. Pointing at things and saying they'll tax them, vilifying people for having a large house and a large stone slab in a bloody garden is not the basis for good Government.
So what about my hometown, Middlesbrough? Well once again they've voted like lemmings for the guy wearing a red rosette. This time around it wasn't just the parliamentary elections but also the vote for the elected Mayor of the Town.
As it happens the Labour lemmings have surpassed themselves. For nearly thirty years they re-elected an MP who lived in France but this time around they've elected a Mayor who doesn't even support the position he's been appointed to. That's right the newly elected Mayor for Middlesbrough campaigned for the position to be abolished a few short years ago before deciding that he'd quite like the job after all.
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