As expected we have our first Hung Parliament since 1974 and if every party leader was honest, each one of them would admit to being very disappointed.
Whilst Brown did not do as badly as polls predicted a month ago it was very clear that he has not been given a mandate to govern. Nick Clegg admitted it was a disappointing night as many who said they would vote Lib. Dem. did not have the courage of their convictions when it counted most. However, with 23% of the vote equating to just 50 odd seats, the issues of the electoral system are glaringly obvious.
It was a little sad today to see that many of the papers front pages had gone “Clegg bashing” in an attempt to derail his emergence as a key player.
With the 2nd leaders debate tonight it will be interesting to see how all 3 change tact in order to get the much needed “win” on the night.
However, as my esteemed colleague Rob Gill just pointed out, “British politicians do not try to win elections they wait for others to lose them”. In other words the level of scrutiny is so high now that trying to say nothing much at all is often better than saying something that can then be either pulled apart or lambasted as nonsense, whether taken in or out of context.
It used to be the case that a week was a long time in politics, but now, after the much anticipated Leaders debate last night delivered a surprisingly enticing slice of political drama, 90 minutes can be an entire career.
Enter stage left one Nick Clegg. Making a mockery of Tory claims that Vince Cable had an advantage from the centre position, he took his chance with both hands and delivered a positively authoritative performance which threw the election wide open.
Perhaps one of my favourite episodes of my favourite ever TV programme “The West Wing” was when Presidential candidates Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda went head-to-head in a US Presidential televised debate.
Not only was the acting superb, clearly part scripted – part improvised and performed live, it gave an enthralling insight into these events.
Here we saw two fine actors portraying Democrat and Republican candidates with real political passion, distinct policies and fervent principles. If you get a chance to find it, download and watch it, because this is how it should be and what unfortunately we are unlikely to see tonight.
The first week of campaigning is almost over and I have already tried to ban myself from shouting at the TV! The issue with our politics today and a reason why many are switching off is that whatever idea, good or bad a party has, the opposition automatically criticises and opposes it. Idealism and political passions have given way to a brand of PR Playground Politics.
In the Property and Mortgage Industries there has already been some wild debate around what effect, if any, a brand new Government would have. It is becoming apparent that there are only two realistic outcomes, a slight majority either way or a Hung Parliament, neither of which will really give anyone a decisive mandate to actually govern, so uncertainty could unfortunately be around for a while yet.
Andrew Montlake, Communications Director at Coreco and ‘Mortgage Personality of the Year 2008’, gives his views — honest and no holds barred — on the latest developments within the mortgage and property markets.
