Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 October 2007 17:09:00
So, it would appear, there will not be a general election in the UK until 2009. Gordon Brown has finally announced that he's not planning to call an election before then, while David Cameron is standing in the other corner of the playground making clucking chicken noises. Thus ends the speculation over whether we would be going to the polls before Christmas; speculation which has raged for literally minutes. And thank goodness for that, I say, although that's mostly because we haven't returned the letter yet from the electoral register people to tell them who's living in our house at the moment.
Now, none of this would need to happen if we adopted the American electoral system. Of course, not being American or living in America, I could have the wrong impression, but it looks to me like it goes like this: Have an election every fourth year; spend two months arguing about whether the person who won really won or not; give them three months to start making a mess of things; and then start the campaign for the next election, as it's now only three and a half years away.
But no, instead in Britain we operate this system: Wait for the Government to reach the point where they think they're most likely to win, or likely to not lose as badly as they would at another time; sit through several weeks of party election broadcasts in which all the parties tell you how rubbish the others are without really explaining why they're any better; and then watch as people complain that all the parties are rubbish so they won't bother voting for any of them, although that's no reason why they can't complain about whoever does win. Then sit and wait for it all to happen again in another 3-5 years...