Tomorrow the least interesting and most depressing General Election since universal suffrage takes place in the UK. The only question the electorate are being asked is “How do you like your market economy: cruel, very cruel or psychopathic?” Because of the ‘first past the post’ voting system, winning an outright majority requires the support of only 33% of the 60% who bother to vote – so the only votes that really count are those of a few thousand swing voters in around 100 marginal constituencies. In the end, the votes of just 250,000 people, mostly ignoramuses taught all they know by Rupert Murdoch, will determine the outcome. Yes, that means a mere 0.2% of the population possess votes that matter!
As a Welshman, I am disenfranchised further by the position of Wales as only 5% of the UK, which makes it utterly irrelevant to the final result. No wonder the word “Wales” was not uttered once in the three excruciating TV “debates” (which I didn’t watch, but I’m so confident that assertion is correct I’m putting it in unchecked). My disengagement from what happens in faraway London is completed by being a Cardiffian living in the safe Labour seat Cardiff South & Penarth. Alun Michael is guaranteed to be returned to the feeding trough, I mean Westminster, in perpetuity – so individual votes are worthless. I could never and will never vote Tory and the Lib Dems are just nice Tories who like a pint, so I shall be voting Plaid Cymru as usual. Plaid has no chance here and will be doing well to rustle up 2,000 votes in the entire constituency. I am therefore certain to maintain my record of never having voted for the “winner” in any British election since I first voted in 1974. I will not watch any of the election coverage tomorrow night: I am a fairly resilient chap but Tory triumphalism is one thing I cannot take.