More on politicos britanicos

So where were we??

Ohh yes this wee insignificant event called the British General Election that has been ‘officially’ launched this week.
For the benefit of those from other parts of this planet who are unfamiliar to Brit politics I will give you my take on it.
Here goes …
The current ruling party are the Labour Party who have been in power now for thirteen years.
They came to power in May 1997 with the mission to end the previous 18 yrs of Conservative “sleaze” (you may remember Britain’s first female Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher).
The Laboristas were led by a youngish chap in his early 40’s who had previously trained as a lawyer and had been a wee bit of a hippie during his undergraduate years at university and played in a Rock band.
The ‘Laborista in Chief’
… was a gentleman called Mr Anthony Blair
… in the glory days of May 1997
… who promised the British people that his New Labour government would be ‘clean’ (i.e. no sleaze)
… and sweep away the malaise and corruption of the previous Tory administration of Thatcher (then an awfully nice chap called John Major (who had been systematically ridiculed for being extremely ‘grey and boring’ by Brit satirists such as the puppet show ‘Spitting Image’)).
In 2007 Gordon Brown took the helm (no doubt because Blair anticipated the coming recession and went off to get rich on the proceeds of his book and become the (extremely well-paid) darling of the after-dinner speakers circuit).

The Conservative,
… have had a variety of leaders since 1997 (some instantly forgettable) including a Yorkshireman called William Hague (whose claim to fame was that he used to drink 10 pints of beer (or was that lemonade) on a night out.
Yes Mr. Hague that was pure dead street cred huh (sic)
However just over 4 years ago they chose a young bloke called David Cameron.
Many have argued that Cameron is ‘Tony Blair-lite’ or some kind of clone of the previous Laborista in Chief.
Anyway
… some have said that he is too posh
… and out of touch with real people (his privileged upbringing)
He was famous as a young slip of a lad for his membership of a lunch-club that used to trash bars and restaurants then wave a platinum Amex card at the irate staff / manager and claim that smashing up the establishment was just a jolly jape (student high pranks ehhh).

Then last but by no means least
… we have the Liberal Democrats.
They were formed from the synthesis of the old Liberal Party and a breakaway Laborista outfit called the Social Democrats.
Traditionally regarded as a wee bit twee and too woolly to real run the country.
They are currently led by Nick Clegg.
The previous leader was a Scotsman called Charles P. Kennedy who now spends his time as a guest presenter on various satirical TV shows
… like the BBC’s “Have I got news for you” and other such activities.
Nick Clegg was quite honest when interviewed about his religious viewpoint and was openly atheist (quite a refreshing change huh)
… we don’t do God!”
… he told the interviewer.
He also has a sexy Spanish wife called Miriam (also a lawyer).
That makes him fairly street-cred from a European perspective.

Obviously in the U.S.A.
… nobody would have the ‘balls’
… to say they were atheist
… if they intended to be the American leader and stand for the high office of the White House.
I won’t tell you what I think of Mr. Hussein Obama yet …!

Scotland; Wales; and N. Ireland now have devolved governments (one of the key Blair / Brown’s flag-ship initiatives to make Britain more democratic by de-centralising power away from London)
In Scotland the Laboristas have a battle with the Scottish Nationalists (S.N.P.) led by Alex Salmond and his robotic female deputy Nicola Sturgeon.
They have been the so-called ‘Scottish government’ (sic) since the Holyrood elections of 2007.
Salmond’s title or designation is that of ‘First Minister’.
Sturgeon is duputy-dog.
I could joke about the S.N.P. now
… but I am sure there will be lots of opportunities for that in the weeks to come.
Obviously since (I chose to) live in England rather than Scotland
… I do have an opinion about whether the UK should be broken up into its 4 constituent countries. Later we can talk about Spain and their similar venture / experiment in de-centralising power away from Madrid.

I will take a rest now … back later!!