UK elections

So after weeks of bickering and bantering, after all has been spun and re-spun, the three leaders of the three main parties squared up to a long night of slow results. 95% of what happens and who wins which seat is, of course, more or less decided way in advance and there could have been little doubt in anyone other than the staunchest conservatives' mind that Tony Blair would get a bit of a scare but nevertheless remain in power for an "historical" third term. BBCs coverage of such important events has become legendary since the Thatcher years - Dimbleby, Paxman and the wonderfully excitable John Snow make an irresistable team if you absolutely have to follow what is happening: the suave, the cynical and the downright potty! The swingometer was in full flow, fluctuating mind-bogglingly between red, blue and yellow, and this year it was joined by an array of CG visual aids ranging from the ingenious to the ridiculous image of three virtual leaders strutting down a virtual Downing St. in an attempt to illustrate how well they were doing in relation to expectation and the burden of history. By 4:30am Labour had reached the magic total of 324 and counting, with an expected majority of around 66 by next evening (a drop of over 100 seats since 2001!), Blair looked pleased again instead of worried (although it remains to be seen whether he will remain leader for very long) and everyone else looked knackered and not a little bored. Perhaps the most significant moment of the night was the election of George Kennedy to the Tower Hamlet seat in London, displacing labour's Oona King, the first ever black female MP. He wasn't a Conservative, he wasn't a LibDem, he wasn't even a Green or BNP - he represented the Respect party, founded by himself, as a full on protest to Blair and the war on Iraq; in an already tense racial environment he went door to door stirring up anti female and anti Blair furore and won, by about 400 votes! A big statement, but where will it leave the people of that particular borough after the heat dies down? Ah, politics... I'd rather have a sausage sandwich... Kx