Election Day: a second chance

The day dawned a couple of hours ago, a cool quite crisp day with birds singing their dawn chorus. My mind is confused, not empty. What should I do? Vote? Certainly! For Labour? Yes! Then what is the confusion? Just a mellow emptiness? Concern about the outcome? Maybe elections are communal and gregarious events when we need the company of friend and foe? Maybe I have seen so many colleagues leak their postal votes to Kennedy that I worry for the outcome. This is not 1992 when every other house had labour posters but Kinnock lost. Nor 1997 when all but the comotose judged that the Thatcher/Major era had run its course. Nor is it 2001 when Labour didn't contest the election, just waited for their overwhelming majority. 

In 97, I saw the seeds of Blair's decline in that majority. Politics must be, to some degree, inclusive and accommodating. Blair has no need to be, within and outside of Labour. So what will be, will be. It's the people's mandate and we will return it one way or another. It's time for a change, and let's hope that there is an opportunity for Blair and for Labour to do just that. A second chance is what we need. So like a child, I beg for that. The die is cast and by tomorrow's dawn, the outcome will be clear.