Post election Blues

O, here I go with my post election blues. I was all ready to title this “Hung, drawn and quartered”: a bitter reflection on the Liberal Democrat loss, but I have decided to try and be a little less biased from the start. Let’s see if it will actually work.

I guess I didn’t really believe that the Liberal Democrats would win but the hope was there, and it may not even be that we wanted a Liberal government but I think what we were all hoping for was a change. I was so sick of seeing the same old politics, the same old parties, and the same old same old. NOT that the Lib Dems were really that drastically different but a refreshing thought nevertheless.

Despite all the pre-election hype and hope we ended up with a Conservative majority, though not as large as they would have liked, forcing them into choosing between a not-so-effective minority government and a coalition of compromise. This meant that even with the disappointing Lib Dem show of seats, Nick Clegg was in the position of acting as “King maker” (as the news so liked to dub him). The Lib Dems had the seats that would make the real difference, holding the balance of power between a Conservative and a Labour government and so, were being wooed by all.

What would have seemed the more natural alliance of Labour and Lib Dems was sacrificed almost immediately to what would appear to be the sense of fairness of Nick Clegg in allowing the Conservatives the first hand. And a few days later, Gordon Brown was not only resigning as leader of the Labour Party but also exiting Downing Street, soon followed by the arrival of David Cameron and his new Deputy Nick Clegg. “A new era of politics?” What does this really mean for us, the British public?”- We all heard ourselves asking.
We had our new government and it may seem looking at the faces on TV that nothing much has changed but to some extent we do have change: quite a big change too as we have not had a coalition government for the better part of 70 years. Is it what we expected? Probably not, but then I don’t know if any of us actually knew what to expect.

I was not overly hopeful, this was no Obama moment. And, taking a realistic view of Global Politics, one might realise that an Obama moment might not even be what we should be hoping for. Though the election of Barack Obama was an historical moment, and his policies promised much, not that much has actually yet been achieved so we may want to spray a little water on those burning fires of hope.
Watching the post-election press conference called by Cameron and Clegg in the grounds of Downing Street may have calmed many fears of an unstable coalition- that was probably the idea- however, the realisation of what a PR oriented political environment we reside in made it more sickening to me than anything else and yet, I still couldn’t help but hope a little that something new, something good might come of this. Naïve of me? I don’t know.

Fast forward a little and we have the announcement of the government’s newly agreed policies, the true results of the back-room negotiations that have been taking place, the agenda for the next 5 years. The Conservatives have had to compromise much in order to avoid a Lib Dem walkout. We can see now that not only are there a good few Lib Dem faces in the new government (some in quite high profile positions) but also a deal appears to have been brokered, a final document produced that includes a real mix of both parties’ manifestos. And sure enough, there are those typical whispers of rebellion in the back-bench- useful sometimes, but don’t they realise they are in a coalition?? No guys, you didn’t win a parliamentary majority, so deal!

And, what are we left with? As a coalition they seem to have their heads screwed on straight and appear more down-to-earth then one would have thought- unfortunately as yet they haven’t given me huge reasons to let loose a barrage of criticisms. I am still waiting and remain cautious. I will be taking a close look at their plans and more importantly, their actions. However, to start with, what I have yet to see and what I (and I’m sure many others) really wanted out of this election is a true open debate and referendum of proportional representation. I will not truly trust them til they trust me, the British Public.

Note to my elected officials: My feelings post-election, as can be viewed by the mixture apparent in this article, are confused to say the least. However, one thing I am sure of, I want political and electoral reform and the deal made by the Lib Dems for a referendum on the AV voting system is to me, totally unsatisfactory- If they give up on this, we will surely give up on them.