As I have watched the comings and goings of politicians jockeying with each other for the tenancy of Number 10 – which I have always thought should normally be in the gift of the electors – I have been struck by how continental it all is. The rent-a-mob crowds outside the party headquarters. The hordes of pundits, reporters and cameramen. The breathless reports that some nondescript Twitter user has tweeted banal obscenities against someone whose experience has led him to a different view, or that the spokesman for one party leader has left a message on the answerphone of another. These things are blessedly rare in British first-past-the-post elections. This chaos seems, however, to be the norm in countries like Belgium,… Read More Yesterday morning I happened to bump into an old university friend who let slip she was due to have dinner with David Cameron that evening. “Please give him two messages from me,” I said. “First of all, congratulations on having polled a larger share of the popular vote than Labour did in 2005. Second, don’t sacrifice free schools.” Unfortunately, by the time this message was conveyed it may have been too late. According to today’s Sunday Telegraph, David Cameron and Nick Clegg met for 70 minutes at Admiralty House yesterday and among the areas that Cameron said he was prepared to give ground on were taxes, green issues and schools. Schools. When I read that word I experienced a horrible… Read More I’m enjoying seeing the Left build castles in the air this morning, as they desperately try to think up some sort of deal that could keep them in power. You should never say never in politics, so I’m not going to. But here are my eight reasons why it’s very unlikely. 1. Labour hasn’t got the numbers. Even with the Lib Dems, they are still 8 short of an effective majority (given that Sinn Fein’s 5 MPs will not take their seats.) Cobbling together some sort of understanding with the Greens and the Nationalists would look desperate, last about five minutes, and make the government vulnerable to every piece of petty SNP or Plaid Cymru blackmail. 2. Labour hasn’t got the votes. They got 29… Read More And so to the detailed autopsy. Blogs and tweets and emails pour in from every side, trying to make sense of what’s happened and what’s coming next. I’ve surprised myself: yesterday I thought I never wished to think of domestic politics for several months, and now here I am psephologising, along with most of my friends. First of all, my stubbornly Labour soul is gladdened by the fact that the bedrock Labour vote remained firmish. That was the nearest we’ve come to getting pushed into third place (except for 1983), and it didn’t happen and won’t in my lifetime. But there were a few warning signs. The first results of Thursday night, from Sunderland as always, looked really rather ominous for… Read More So, whatever happens in the next couple of days, David “change to win” Cameron isn’t going to be in Downing Street leading a majority government. But can he eventually achieve that? It’s quite simple, really. If he had any political sense, he would advise Nick Clegg to get lost (and I am putting that politely). He would suggest that Clegg busily woo Gordon Brown and help him remain in Downing Street at the head of a snug Labour-Lib Dem pact. Dave would sit back and watch as the degraded coalition made the cuts needed to sort out the British economy, stabilise the situation – and take the blame for it. Then he could watch as the coalition fell apart. When that happened, the…Read More It may be, as commentators keep telling us, an unclear result, but one thing could hardly be more emphatic: Labour has lost. Gordon Brown keeps telling us how much he loves England and the English. Well, Prime Minister, in England it’s considered bad form to hang around in the crease once the umpire has raised his fateful finger. Time, I think, for Dr Seuss: Like Terminator, Gordon Brown keeps going Refresh this page for the latest updates. See General Election 2010 latest: live for the Telegraph’s parallel article. Will Heaven (WH) and Damian Thompson (DT) and Robert Colvile (RC) write. This live blog is adjourned until Sunday, when Tory and Lib Dem negotiating teams meet in the Cabinet Office (11.00am). 5.49pm John Mann MP tells the BBC, “Gordon Brown needs to go before the Labour Party Conference in September… Large number of Labour voters believe he should not be Prime Minister. It’s not credible or tenable that he should continue.” His resignation should occur “in the near future”, Mann suggests. But the Labour MP has no open support and is not part of a “cabal”. 5.46pm… Read More Labourspeak is lazy. In fact it is not only lazy, it is dangerous. In Labourspeak, anyone who does not believe in a big State propped up with high taxes and countless employees is “Tory”. Anyone who wants to change our benefit system is a “Tory”. Anyone who has a good word to say about individual initiative is a “Tory”. But, confusingly – and this is yet another illustration of its essential laziness – in Labourspeak, the Liberal Democrat is a spiritual twin and possible partner. The Lib Dems may not be sound on unions and are too strident on civil liberties, but their “hearts are in the right place”. Labour was full of hope, when Clegg popped up… Read More Actually, as agreeable as Evan Harris losing his seat in Oxford is the drubbing that the BNP has taken in the election. Not that it was unexpected. It’s more that when I post about the BNP, there’s a rapid response from the usual neanderthals along the lines of this: “You-just-don’t-get-it-do-you-George [this is a favourite phrase of BNP supporters]. We’re the true future of Britain and you’ve got it coming to you.” As it turns out, BNP leader Nick Griffin came a miserable third in Barking and in 325 other seats his street-brawling candidates were nowhere to be seen. As for local council elections, the BNP suffered a terrible rout. I daresay the usual knuckle-draggers will appear under this, claiming… Read More It looks like I was wrong in my analysis of the Prime Minister’s motive for remaining in Downing Street. Judging from the message being cranked out by the NuLab spin machine, Gordon Brown really does believe that if the Lib Dems can’t reach an agreement with the Tories there’s a possibility of a ‘coalition of the losers’ “progressive coalition”. I thought this was too incredible even for our shameless Prime Minister to contemplate, but apparently not. He would have no qualms about remaining in office in spite of the fact that he’s gone from not being elected to convincingly beaten in a general election. He’s Britain’s first twice unelected Prime Minister. If Labour’s high command is seriously considering… Read MoreAny government dancing to Mr Clegg's unpopular tune will be punished by the voters
Will David Cameron sacrifice free schools to secure a coalition with the Lib Dems?
It is not in Labour's own interest to stay in government
Clegg's followers were all students. They spent the day on their computers, then turned up too late to vote
How to achieve a Tory landslide this year
Gordon Brown, will you please go NOW?
UK Election live blog
Labour loved the Lib Dems because they never bothered to find out who they really were
You heard it here first: There could be a Lib-BNP pact
Would a 'coalition of the losers' be in the Conservative Party's best interests?
Sunday, 9 May 2010
MAY 9TH, 2010 8:00
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