The deed is done. I was down at the local Polling Station at 6.53am, and found six people there before me. By the time they let us in to vote, the queue had grown to at least twenty people. We're keen voters in Mid Sussex!
The process has become more elaborate in recent times, in that as an extra step you are asked to produce photographic ID to prove it's you. Since this is one of the most important things a citizen can ever do, I think this is entirely appropriate, regardless of any genuine risk of impersonation. The old arrangements were surprisingly lax.
I didn't hesitate long in the voting booth. I put my cross where I thought it should go and popped the folding voting paper in the box, then left.
As I came out, the party agents, or at least their helpers, were assembling. I deftly dodged them and walked back to my house.
It was a lovely sunny morning - certainly an encouragement to get out and vote. My village is not one full of apathetic people who feel indifferent to the electoral process. I should think the local turnout will be high throughout the day. It is, after all, Bungalow City, and stiff with oldies - and senior people will generally insist on having their say.
Well, tonight we can all settle down at 11.00pm or so for an interesting night. The broad outcome is surely not in doubt, but I am anticipating plenty of upsets and surprises, perhaps even minor excitements. It's like watching a long Grand National race, sans horses and hurdles, just the jockeys in their colours, and of course the rider first past the winning post gets the prize. As in this scene I've composed with Microsoft CoPilot:
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I shan't be disappointed when Labour win, because a New Broom is urgently necessary. But I don't expect much from them. They will, thankfully, put some easily-fixed things right. I'm sure they will. But they can't cure some deeper problems in just one term. And I do fear an attempted left-wing turnover if their majority is too large, with unwelcome consequences.
The Conservatives can make the regretful speeches of the defeated, and then go on holiday to recover. When they reassemble, I hope they will take a long hard look at where they went wrong - who needs to go, and who ought now to be given a chance to rebuild the party into something worth voting for. They need new faces, better brains, and much more heart. They have some very wayward people, and their bad behaviour has pulled the party down. That lesson must be learned. They had become uncaring in a host of ways.
I don't think the LibDems will get their comeback. They have tried very hard indeed, but I for one haven't been impressed.
I will watch the fate of Reform UK with some fascination. Plenty of people say they will vote for them, but I think their blunt and attention-grabbing programme is too limited in scope, and I can't see them addressing the myriad of minor but important concerns that always vex the voting population.
The Greens? They might do quite well. Green issues are becoming steadily more pressing. The hurricane presently devastating the Caribbean is yet another reminder that the world's weather has been upset and can only get worse. Personally, I think climate issues (and what to do about them) will swamp everything else within twenty years, and can't be ignored.
There was a local Monster Raving Looney Party candidate. It crossed my mind to put my X against their name, as a bit of fun, but I thought better of it. General Elections are serious things, with very serious consequences.
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