I believed the polls which all suggested that we were heading for a well-hung parliament with Conservatives and Labour in some sort of rough balance but without an overall majority and with the minor parties being able to exert significant influence through deal-making. And I believed that until around 11pm last night when the first exit poll suggested that the Conservatives might gain a working majority. Not quite what I had hoped for or what I had been told to expect.
That exit poll proved to be correct and this morning see the Conservative party with a tiny majority which I suspect will be very effective given that there is no chance that the opposition parties will find enough common ground to cause the Conservatives any serious trouble. So we can look forward to another 5 years of cuts to public services, privatisation of the public sector, zero-hours contracts, promotion of the interests of the private sector over the public, and the promotion of the interests of capital over all others.
So, the beatings will continue until morale improves.
(Later)
Nigel Farage passed comment on the disparity between the UKIP share of the vote (12.8%) and the seats it gained (1) compared to the SNP share of the vote (3.8%) and the number of seats gained (56).
The graph below illustrates his point.
Based upon their share of the votes cast, UKIP would have gained the frightening total of 82 seats whereas the SNP would be down to 31. Although I don't agree with much of what Farage says, he does have a point.