I blame myself. I don’t live in London and I don’t have a vote in the London Mayoral election but still, I blame myself.
I was complacent and lazy.
I felt it inconceivable that any semi-liberal, semi-cosmopolitan, semi-literate, semi-educated, semi-sane, semi-self-respecting electorate could possibly vote into the office of the third largest directly-elected role in Europe a man who regularly utters racist, homophobic, idiotic and offensive remarks; a liar; and an unabashed adulterer.
I was wrong.
I did, half-jokingly, suggest to someone a few weeks ago that Cunt Boris’s election might not be as bad as it first seemed because the unadulterated, half-arsed wankfest he’ll make of the job – Top Tory Toff In Power In Action – over the course of the next two years will do more harm to Posh Boy Dave’s electoral prospects than anything Gordon Brown can manage.
I was joking: it will be every bit as bad as it first seems.
Reap.
Reap.
Reap.
You’re gonna reap just what you sow.
Every now and then, London drops tiny little hints that far from the glorious cosmopolitan melting pot of culture and success we sometimes believe it to be, it is in fact a moribund, pointless backwater infested with cretins.
Well said julesallen, well said.
What I find even more concerning is that the BNP managed to get a seat on the London Assembly.
Mrs Baby had to supervise the count of a ward in Manchester that had a BNP candidate. You may not be surprised to learn they were apparently a right bunch of cunts.
At the risk of causing ire though, is Mayor Boris not the product of people who decided to ironically vote Tory last time? I don’t care how improbable the chances of a Tory being elected were, we had the perfect opportunity to put them in to third place in politics and squandered it. It’s now become socially acceptable to vote for them again. I shall not name and shame those in our number who did this, but would perhaps ask them to reflect on their actions.
Meanwhile Manchester remained in Labour control, as it has done since it’s reconstitution in 1974. The only Green lost her place, and the only Tory is a defection from the Lib Dems. It does amuse me that he does not get the perks that go with the job as MCC have decreed that the Conservative party are not a political group. This is apparently defined as requiring 2 or more people.
I am undecided about the value of elected Mayors. There is no doubt that Manchester’s development has been because of its lengthy political stability. This stability is why it has forged ahead of other major cities in terms of redevelopment and expansion. Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool have all vacilated politically. So in one sense it is difficult to see what the value would be to Manchester of an elected mayor.
But then again, what Ken Livingstone did for London more than anything is be the one whinging figurehead that the media could approach for a quote. Any story on public transport would be accompanied by his whining nasal tones, almost implying that the rest of the country had public transport Mussolini would be proud of. This I think has assisted London. And whilst Manchester has had only two leaders in it’s history, I think that because they are leaders simply by being head of the Labour group, the media are more reluctant to seek them out.
In the absence of the Minister taking the bait, I’d say that anyone “ironically” voting Tory must have a very profound sense of irony.
I think people who voted “tactically” last time (voting either Tory or LibDem in marginal seats to send Blair a message about Iraq) were pretty successful on the whole – kick in the teeth, reduced majority, recognition of Iraq being the issue – without remotely making toryism fashionable (Michael Howard’s gunshot resignation underlined that pretty well).
The truth is it still isn’t fashionable – it’s just that Labour itself is in meltdown so opposition parties are profiting without the requirement for effort or talent.
The mayor of London thing is just sad Londoners obsessed with the cult of personality. These conclusions are facile enough, but I’m sure most people don’t see the connection yet. If Boris doesn’t goof in the press, idiotic Londoners may turn to the Tories in a general election.