Over dinner last night hubby told me about a colleague of his who had placed a large bet on the Conservatives gaining a shock victory. I laughed in his face.
No, no it will not be 1992 again, the polls are much more sensitive. Repeating what I heard from the pundits and pollsters before, it will be too close to call, I declared with confidence. Damn, I wish I had made the same bet.
I went to bed, put the election out of my mind and missed the exit poll. However when the baby woke at 4am for a feed I reached for the phone and that was the end of sleep for me.
It looks like the Conservatives can govern alone with a spectacular and enjoyable defeat for the Liberal Democrats. What can we take from this victory for the Conservative Party? I am no fan of the ultra-liberal Tory social agenda but we must rejoice at the following:
- Labour are not in power. No return to the 1970s.
- The miniscule marriage tax allowance stays. Wo-hoo!
- The education reforms remain. These are not as big as perceived, as our Chris McGovern has explained, but they are significant. We hope further reforms are now introduced.
- Universal credit reform will be completed.
- There will be an EU referendum.
The negative aspects are the following:
- The hideous, gargantuan, uncosted childcare allowance is on the way for 2017. Nightmare.
- The Cameroons will feel justified in their social liberal reforming agenda. Double nightmare.
- Many, many spending and tax-cutting promises have been made that cannot possibly be kept.
Nick Clegg has stood down as leader of the Liberal Democrats, which is a blessed relief. In the interim we all must hunt down those wretched pollsters and demand some answers as to why they got it so wrong.
