2010 General Election

Well, that’s another General Election out of the way, and Britain seems to be in an even worse state than it was beforehand, if that indeed were possible. We have a hung Parliament, which is certainly not what the country needs at this moment.

Gordon Brown is still the Prime Minister, although not an elected one. Since becoming the Labour leader, there have been a couple of attempts to oust him, but those have fizzled out, although another attempted coup could be in the offing in the next few weeks. David Cameron, after becoming head of the Conservatives, reckoned that they should try and modernise their image if they really wanted to govern the country – well, they did change tack, and have won the most votes in the election, but not enough seats to give them a majority in the Commons. Some Tories will no doubt be wondering if he really is the man to be in charge of the Party. Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats might have come out on top in the leaders’ debates which were televised over the past few weeks, but that popularity wasn’t translated into votes last night, which means that the media might have been impressed with his appearances, but the majority of the electorate weren’t. Again, how happy are the rank and file going to be with his leadership, and overall campaign strategy?

I would suggest that what is needed in Britain today is a leader, in whichever party, who has some moral fibre, and who can gather around him a team of advisors who want to be there for the overall good of the country, and not to boost their own egos and bank balances. In all successful organisations, there are competent leaders – take some successful football clubs as just one example. Think of Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United – all very successful clubs while there was an able man at the helm. They had Jock Stein, Bill Shankley, Alex Ferguson respectively – men who surrounded themselves with good coaches, and player who worked together as a TEAM, which is very important.

Our democracy in Britain has proved to be one of the best forms of government over the years, but it stops being democratic when bills are being forced through by applying the party whip, when individual members are forced to toe the party line, often against their own wishes or beliefs, and especially their constituents’ wishes. Each member is elected by his constituents, and to serve them properly, he/she should vote according to the way that the majority of them would want him/her to vote. There is also a strong case to be made for proportional representation, as the number of seats that the Liberal Democrats manage to get are ridiculously low compared to the number of votes cast for them nationwide. I recall someone saying that the best form of government was dictatorship, combined with assassination for any dissenters, but fortunately we in the UK are rather more refined than that – so far.

On a lighter note, I’ve had a look a look at what some of the party leaders gorged themselves on, particularly at election time. In the 2 weeks leading up to the big day, Margaret Thatcher went in search of chooks, and ate 28 eggs a week, while Gordon Brown demolished 9 bananas a day, to make up for cutting KitKats and fizzy drinks out of his diet. Harold Wilson loved to cover his food with Worcestershire Sauce, but decided to be photographed with HP Sauce instead, so that he could be more readily identified as being one of the masses. Mind you, he’s the only man in the last 100 years to have won 4 General Elections, so there’s something to be said for carrying a bottle of it in the hip pocket. Winston Churchill, of course, preferred liquid sustenance, especially brandy and champagne, which he took every day, sometimes as early as breakfast time.

I’m now feeling peckish, so it’s down to the kitchen for HP covered eggs, followed by a couple of bananas, washed down by some sparkling wine – non-alcoholic, of course, as I’m waiting patiently for a call from No 10, so as to give the new incumbent some tips on cooking haggis and sheep's head broth.