Categories: uncategorized
Date: 08 May 2005 16:31:20
This is it, the last entry for The Greasy Pole. All that remains to do is to comment on the result, and speculate about what the future may hold.
Everyone won and everyone lost. Labour won because, well, they won. But they lost because nearly one hundred of them aren't there any more; because Tony can't frogmarch his dodgy legislation through the House of Commons now, and because he probably hasn't got more than a year or so left. As a former lover with some residual fondness for him, I hope he is remembered more for tackling national and global poverty than for Iraq and Anti-Terror Laws.
The Tories won because they didn't lose as horrifically as they did last time, or the time before that. But it's still very pleasing to hear them portray a failure to get 200 seats as quite a good result. At the end of the day they lost, and only Spent Force (previously known as Calamatous Force) seemed to realise that. I'd be surprised to see them get in next time.
The Lib Dems won because they beat Labour in a lot of seats. But they lost because they didn't beat the Tories in a lot of seats. Charles Kennedy is almost certainly the only party leader from this time around who will still be there at the next election, but I think he will have to look a bit more leadership material. Go on Charles, alienate a large group of people whilst smiling and we'll start to believe you're a Prime Minister in the making.
So the big winner from the election is Gordon Brown, who will probably be our Prime Minister in a year or two. His former advisor, who has the best name in politics (Ed Balls) will make a meteoric rise to become Chancellor, now that he is an MP. The country will be Brown-Balled.
It's all over for a few more years then, and so is The Greasy Pole. Some people seem to have been confused by the title and felt it was a little lewd (Howard did anyway). It was however a quote from Disraeli, upon being told that he had become Prime Minister: 'I have ascended the Greasy Pole!', making the point that getting to the top in politics was a slippery climb.
Still, there appears to be a market for this sort of thing, so further comment on religious and political issues will be made in a new blog, 'What Gentlemen Don't Discuss', appearing on a wibsite near you soon.