Thursday, May 06, 2010

Election blues

It has been strange to see the resurgence of Gordon Brown – once again he seems to be benefiting from a feeling of public shame about having been nasty to him. A strange trick to be able to pull off, given how nasty he is to others, even if it is always the fault of some proxy minion.

This election nevertheless seemed to fall suddenly flat yesterday – or perhaps I am just reading too much from my own mood.

The excitement of the debates has faded – we have already had the final. Now it is serious, not at all like choosing the next Jedward or Susan Doyle. And nobody is going to relieve us of taking responsibility for not taking the whole thing seriously, as John Sergeant did by bowing out of Strictly Come Dancing; we have to go through with cocking a snook or be serious about really serious questions.

The weather has not helped, nor has the return of the cloud of volcanic ash.

There is not much excitement on the streets, not even around the polling stations – in fact I have not seen a single person going in or coming out of one.

Perhaps it will after all be a very low turnout, a massive majority for none of the above.

And I for one shall be surprised if the Liberal Democrats have, in the end, been able to translate their novelty into a significant addition to the number of seats they hold.

Just hope the result does not leave us in hock to the DUP