In the midst of uni exams at the mo, so can't really commit to big chapters of my current TLs, but I reckon I can handle smol lil baby posts for a fun topic, so here it is.
1.
Just a few months before the general election, nobody would have believed that the result would be what transpired. All eyes were on David Cameron, Conservative leader, and Prime Minister and Labour leader Gordon Brown. But forces greater than themselves were at work. Concealed by Britain’s antiquated electoral system, since at least the early 1970s the great British public had been moving away from the established two-party system of Labour and Conservative. It had been a subdued movement, but even those who consistently voted for one of the big two often did so out of practicality rather than any sense of loyalty. By 2010, the phenomenon of partisan and class dealignment was at a tipping point. Many suggested that a hung Parliament could be coming, but no-one doubted that it would result in either David Cameron or Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.
The forces conspiring against this result were given further impetus by the breaking of the expenses scandal in 2009. As the national news media published fresh details of Members of Parliament playing the system day by day, public trust in the political mainstream was eroded ever further. In the aftermath of biting recession and Iraq, there were few moments in British history when the public had been less supportive of the mainstream. Enter Charles Kennedy.
Kennedy, alongside other big political personalities like Dennis Skinner or Ann Widdecombe, was revealed to be one of the saints of the Commons as far as expenses were concerned and it benefitted him substantially while Cameron was formally questioned by police and Brown stumbled horribly in a Channel 4 interview over the subject. But not as much as the debates. For the first time in British history, pre-election televised debates would air and Charles Kennedy was invited to stand alongside Brown and Cameron. It couldn’t have gone better for him; millions of people who barely knew Kennedy or what the Liberal Democrats even were saw them, and liked what they saw. Kennedy won the debates handily, despite a couple of wobbles when explaining his tax policy, and his quick witty humour endeared him to those who hadn’t already been the type to get excited whenever he was booked onto Have I Got News For You. Some polls, outliers to be sure, suggested the Liberal Democrats might hit 40% of the vote. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Kennedy in an interview. But what they called the Yes He Kennedy movement was becoming a snowball. The media were giving more focus to him than the other two; no matter where he went he was besieged by cameras.
When the decisive moment came, no-one quite knew how big the “Kennedy Crunch” would be. The country waited, glued to television screens, as the final exit poll was opened at ten in the evening exactly. Big Ben chimed. And then the face of Charles Kennedy greeted the country. Party loyalists screamed in euphoria; Chris Huhne was photographed practically jumping on top of Nick Clegg in delight. Many more who had voted Liberal Democrat to “give the new lad a chance” stared with raised eyebrows, amazed that something different had happened. And had it.
By the time all the numbers came in, it was clear that an earthquake had erupted. The Liberal Democrats had secured 39.2% of the vote, up 17%, and effectively broken the First Past the Post electoral system by sweeping to victory in 244 seats. The collapse of the voting system was further demonstrated by Labour and the Conservatives; the latter beat Labour with 28.5% of the vote against 25.5%, yet won far fewer seats by falling to 172 against 208 as many people previously leaning Conservative instead drifted into Kennedy’s camp. Of course, nobody had secured a majority, and so the next step of the remarkable drama began.
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