What I fear; what I hope
This week the British go to the polls in a General Election – the 11th in which I have been a voter.
What I fear
David Cameron pulls off a Conservative victory with a very small overall majority or a sufficient number of seats short of an overall majority that he decides to rule alone like the SNP minority administration in Scotland today or Labour in 1974. The new administration introduces such harsh cuts so rapidly that there is social disorder as we have seen in Greece, Portugal and Spain. Another election is held in a year’s time and the Tories are back with more seats.
What I hope
Labour manages to come second in the share of the vote as well as in the number of seats and agrees to form a coalition with the Lib Dems. Gordon Brown steps down as Labour leader; Alan Johnson becomes temporary leader while a proper election is held for a new leader; one of the Milliband brothers becomes the new Labour leader. The coalition government holds a referendum on a proportional representation system of voting which is carried; subsequent elections use the new system of PR; the Tories remain in opposition for another decade.