Never Glad, Confident Morning Again
October 7th, 2007As a rugby enthusiast and political hack, yesterday was a day of events. I had spent a frenetic morning in Eastleaze helping with a large leaflet delivery before I headed over to a branch event in Liden where all of us were waiting for Mr. Brown to make his decision. I then dropped in to the Walcot Community Shop in Sussex Square where Cllr Peter Mallinson helps out on Saturdays. We both hot footed it over to the Open Day at the Polish Community Centre in Whitbourne Avenue. Smoked meats, delicious cakes and traditional dancing were on the menu. I have always been a supporter of a free and democratic Poland, having paid a memorable and moving visit to Warsaw a few years back. It was great to see Cllr Stan Pajak. Despite being a Liberal Democrat (!), Stan is someone who has given his all to Swindon public life, deserving respect and thanks. I will post more about the Polish Centre in a short while.
Then it was back to West Swindon. During the middle of the afternoon, my campaigning was interrupted by a flurry of telephone calls and texts. Mr. Brown had flunked it. His polls were telling him that we were going to win seats like South Swindon in an autumn election. Up until that point, he had been clearing the decks for an election. Do not believe the assurances we are getting from some quarters that he had no intention of calling an election. It is quite clear that he allowed himself to be swayed by some of his advisers, kept the option open for too long and was forced into a humiliating climbdown by adverse public opinion.
“Never glad, confident morning again”.
As for the Rugby World Cup, sport was mirroring politics. First, take two teams who were underperforming and pit them against two of the hot favourites to win. Secondly, add a background of journalistic opinion lauding the triumph of southern hemisphere rugby. Thirdly, put them into the quarter finals and see what happens. In both games, the form book was ripped up and the underdogs won. France’s last try against the All Blacks, created by the mercurial Frederick Michalak, was rugby poetry.
Replace politics for sport and put the Conservatives in the role of England or France and I am sure that a November election would have seen a similar scenario.
