I was asked by Julia Hobsbawm of Editorial Intelligence to write an article on the election and after for a publication to coincide with a conference on the theme of Brand New Britain.
Not an easy ask since every day has thrown up a new surprise, and doubtless there will be more today with the first round of spending cuts.
But here is what I wrote:
Most constituencies had their own local hustings apeing the television spectaculars. Our last was with local sixth formers. It was the Friday before polling day and still glad confident morning for Liberal Democrats.
I told the students that Nick Clegg had thrown a rock into the stagnant pond of British politics. “You know what stagnant ponds are like. Slimy things in the murky depths, dregs at the bottom, a layer of green scum at the top. And when you chuck a brick in? – hey, a patch of clear water opens up, rippling outwards.”
I said no politician was telling the truth about public spending cuts since it was too horrible. The new Chancellor would go into the Treasury and come out grim-faced to announce that the books had been opened, the public accounts were in a worse mess than ever could have been imagined, and all bets were now off.
And I said too that if the Liberal Democrats got into government, they would not be perfect, they would be bound to make mistakes, but at least they would have no baggage.
Well the Liberal Democrats are in government in the most unexpected way, with fewer seats but more power than many might have imagined. The Chancellor has spoken exactly as prophesied. Tectonic plates are shifting. Welcome to coalition politics.
So far all is sweetness and light. A different language – consensual, balanced, even dare I say sensitive. And that’s just David Cameron talking. The right-wing press does not know what to do.
A Conservative-led government will deliver fairer taxes; more money in education for the most disadvantaged pupils; the most green agenda for government adopted by any incoming administration in Britain’s history; a House of Lords to be elected under proportional representation; a referendum on House of Commons voting reform; the greatest overall shake-up of our democracy since the Reform Act of 1932.
It is literally incredible. The odd coupling of Liberal Democrat and Conservative opposites rather than the more obvious “progressive alliance” of LibDem and Labour becomes its own metaphor for an end to tribal politics.
Everyone voted for it since that was the mathematics of the result. No-one voted for it since there was no box on the ballot paper saying “Hung Parliament”. Just two percent more for the Conservatives would have seen them get an overall majority.
Of course coalitions require compromise. With five Conservative MPs for every one Liberal Democrat, it is remarkable how much of the Lib Dem manifesto has survived within the coalition’s published programme for government. Conservative Central Office must be deluged with e-mails from angry party members.
What does this mean for the future of British politics? Perhaps a kinder, gentler Conservative party modelled on mainstream Christian Democracy? Quite probably short term Liberal Democrat pain as they are blamed alongside the Conservatives for the painful cuts necessary to bring our economy back into balance – is there ever any credit to be gained from making cuts more fair?
The Conservative right will want to break the coalition, and thereby demonstrate the need for “strong” single party government. (Funny how they prefer “strong” single party government on the lines of Greece over the “weakness” of a Germany with its permanently hung Reichstag…)
But every day, every week, every year that Deputy Prime Minister Clegg is beamed into the nation’s living rooms alongside Prime Minister Cameron, the more it will mean good riddance to old politics.
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