What can I say about the election that other pundits and commentators haven't already said? Not a lot. Newspapers, TV and bloggers have covered most of the really key points.
When Blair, in his victory speech, said "Iraq has been a deeply divisive issue in this country ... (But) after this election people want to move on," it was mostly wishful thinking for his own sake.
There is no doubt that Gordon Brown's genius with the economy is what saved Labour from outright defeat. Let's face it - when in the past did the pound's value ever drop on news of a reduced Labour majority? Traditionally, the pound rose when Labour lost and fell when they won. This alone is a measure of how well Brown has done and how he has convinced the money men that mixed-market socialism is the path of fiscal responsibility.
He is personally popular with his constituents too - Brown held Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath (the latter is my hometown) with three times the votes of his nearest rival.
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party also made a strong showing, improving on their situation no matter how the brown-nosed Jack McConnell may try to spin the facts, (yes, I remember you and your coterie of coathangers from your Stirling University days, Jack - you wouldn't know solidarity if it bit you on the ass) while the Conservatives are down to one lonely MP and lost their Shadow Scottish Secretary.
That's the sum-up. Now let's see if I can maybe make a meagre contribution.
John Reid is from the socialist heartlands of central Scotland, from a town where poverty, unemployment and deprivation were particularly hard felt during the Thatcher Years. Maybe it isn't surprising then that he spent two years as a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain before joining Labour. He attended Stirling University (my own alma mater) at a time when Stirling was regarded as the most politically radical University in the nation. He is also more likely to stick by Brown when the eventual changeover comes.
Reid signals, as nothing else possibly could, that the new government will not meakly fall into line behind Bush's military adventures in foreign policy. A man of great intelligence and iintegrity, if he had been at Defence at the time of Memogate and therefore in the loop as opposed to being one of the misled members of the cabinet, he would have told Blair to forget the whole insanity or face exposure by Reid himself.
Imagine...a former commie running the British Ministry of Defence! US hawks must be having apoplexy!
If the Tories pick Rifkin and Labour picks Brown, then they will join Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats as a troika of Scots in charge of the three main UK political parties. There are many bigots, particularly on the far right and in the English south, who would be vocally unhappy about such a state of affairs.
So there you go. A couple of points I think the big pundits and the MSM have missed out on. Have I missed anything that's worth keeping an eye on? Let me know in comments.
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