Post election post
The results came in last night, but as the radio came on this morning there was the sound of Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the (conservative) People’s party claiming victory. The PP won 23 seats, the PSOE (the labourish socialist party) won 21. There were another couple of parties with one or two each but it was basically a showdown between the big guns. Then I heard the turnout, 44% or so. which means that approximately 20% of the voting population had voted for the PP… not quite the stunning blow to the government he was claiming.
Then I turned on radio 4 while I had my breakfast… Nick Griffin! I hang my head in shame at being from the North of England.
Yet again the conservatives and UKIP (UKIP?!! wtf?) trumpeted their ‘deathblows’ to the government (El Pais says it’s Un resultado “terrible” para Brown) and again, 34% turnout which means that less than one in ten people who could have voted actually voted for the winning party… way to engage the electorate there. I think we should expect our politicians to have some idea of basic maths… if one in ten people voted for you, it doesn’t really count as a crushing victory. Sigh…
So, to avoid stressful, high blood pressure situations… here’s a relaxing picture of some plants. Calm, calm, calm.
