Voters turned out yesterday in force to cast their ballots for who will fail to run the country effectively, and possibly into the ground economically and socially. It's a bit like watching an exciting horse race, all the while knowing that the loser will be dog food and the winner will be glue.
This post will be patchy, updated as I can, as I read more the BBC, and from various different sources.
Hung Up On You:
The UK has a 'First Past The Post' voting system, meaning the first politcal party to win 326 seats is declared the winner. One problem with this is that a party can technically get more votes nation-wide (i.e. the popular vote) and still end up losing seats in parliament. For example, at time of writing Labour has received 8,236,191 votes (29.2%) and holds 248 seats, while the Liberal democrats have received 6,435,621 votes and (22.9%) hold 51 seats (The Tories, meanwhile, have received 10,168,583 votes (36.1%) and hold 291 seats).
'Labour's Lord Mandelson says the public has voted to "turn the page in the political book" but has not decided "which chapter to open".'
'Labour's Lord Mandelson says the public has voted to "turn the page in the political book" but has not decided "which chapter to open".'
On Immigration:
The frightening thing is, although the Lib Dems won 20,653 of ~43,500 votes in my area, nationalist parties (BNP, UKIP) won 1366. However, if the BNP (British Nationalist Party) had won, the price of beer would have gone down, smoking in bars would have been re-legalised, and I would have probably been offered "a cash incentive" to return to the US.
True story: I was at my part-time bar job last week, and the manager of the pub across the road comes in, orders a beer, and starts complaining about how immigrants are ruining the country. He goes on about how all these immigrants are stealing British jobs, and that they should all be shoved on a boat and shipped back to where they came from. "So Thom," say he, "How are things with you?" "Well," I reply, "I'm pretty tired; it's really hard stealing TWO jobs from decent, hard-working British people. Say, are you planning to go back to South Africa anytime soon? I hear there's a boat going."
Long shots:
Poor Mad Cap'n Tom, the most honest candidate in the Cities of London & Westminster (if also the least likely to win). Find out more about the Pirate Party candidate here. (Note: I think the BBC made an oopsie: I find it hard to believe that Mad Capn' Tom would be running against the Pirate Party UK in L&W. Update: Nope. He is. Two separate piratical parties in one constituency; who knew? )
Electile Dysfunction playlist:
"Wake Up" byRage Against The Machine
"Anarchy In The UK" by The Sex Pistols
"The Revolution Starts...Now" by Steve Earle
"Common People" by Pulp (or the William Shatner version)
"Barricade" by Stars
"People Ain't No Good" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
"Democracy" by Leonard Cohen
"A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke
"Pamphleteer" by The Weakerthans
"La Primavera" by Manu Chao
"Army" by Ben Folds Five
"Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2
"It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M.
"Taught To Look Away" by Matt Pond PA & Neko Case
"The Battle Of Who Could Care Less" by Ben Folds Five
"Mouth Like A Magazine" by Showbread
"Know Your Enemy" by Rage Against The Machine
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