Well, it's been a breathless 16 hours. As reported, we had a general election here in the, hitherto, UK. It had been slated as too close to call. All the smart money said we were heading toward another coalition.
The poles closed at 10pm last night. Literally seconds later, the BBC revealed the results of an exit pole, which suggested a huge swing to the Conservatives in England and a clean slate of victories in Scotland for the SNP. This flew in the face of seven separate opinion polls that suggested otherwise. The first results were in the north east, traditional Labour heartland. The exit poll suggested they'd win and by how much. We held our breath. Both Labour candidates won and by slightly less than the predicted margin.
Labour were in for a long night. I turned in after these results, and awoke this morning to the news that Labour had been destroyed outside London and Wales. The SNP won Scotland almost absolutely. And the LibDems - ah, yes, the LibDems - they were basically wiped from the British political map. They no longer have any say in matters, and it's difficult to envisage their recovering from this in the mid-term. They might never completely get of over, such was the scale of the damage.
I've been predicting the LibDem decimation for the last five years. Clegg didn't understand his own constituency, and that's fatal to a politician. The people who voted for him are left of centre. They could not forgive being taken in like this. "I voted for a social democratic centre-left party, and thanks to them I now have a Tory PM." Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Nick Clegg is 48 years old. He's been deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom and not he's out in the cold. His party hates him. Chances are he'll be forgotten, save for his calamitous stewardship of the LibDems or course.
Au revoir, Nick. Or is it goodbye?
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