An Angry Electorate Has Clearly Voted for Change, by Mary Kenny, Irish Independent, June 8, 2009

An Angry Electorate Has Clearly Voted for Change

By Mary Kenny
Irish Independent
June 8, 2009

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/an-angry-electorate-has-clearly-voted-for-change-1765262.html

You could tell, for weeks now, that these elections were going to be some kind of a meltdown: just by the way that the electorate were discussing the political class in shops, pubs and even hairdressers' salons — not normally a location of Platonic political discourse.

"They want punishing, that's what they want," the old dears were saying in our little Kentish town. All over Britain, the electorate was seething after all the revelations about parliamentarians' expenses, revealed in a series of half-awful and half-comical narratives: MPs claimed for the memorial flowers they bought for Remembrance Day, their tampons, their dog food, their gardening ornaments, their glass crystal (Gerald Kaufman just HAD to have a crystal bowl with which to eat his morning grapefruit, and when one was broken carelessly, he had to have two as replacements, for emotional security) let alone their mortgages and their home "flips" — all to be bestowed by the grace and favour of the taxpayer.

All this at a time when many ordinary people are struggling to keep their jobs, their pensions, their savings and when the Inland Revenue comes down like a ton of bricks on taxpayers' cheating.

Gordon Brown remembered the D-Day victory in France on Saturday as he faced election defeat at home
Photo by Gareth Fuller

And thus the ire grew against — not just individual members or parties — but "the political class", who, like the courtiers at Versailles under the Ancien Régime, seemed to live in a bubble all of their own.

In Ireland, I felt the mood for "punishing" the political class was somewhat less vehement. Yes, there is plenty of fierce criticism — and a decline of trust, as manifest by the number of spoilt or blank votes; yet spending time in Listowel, Co Kerry, last weekend I got the feeling that political fury was modified by apprehension about the economic situation, which rocks smaller economies more tempestuously than bigger ones. There seemed to be more worry that a town like Tralee has 25pc unemployment than there is a desire to attack the political class altogether, as can be sensed in the UK.

Irish politicians, too, may have reason to be grateful for the timing of the Ryan Commission report: as in that ghastly phrase employed over 9/11 — "A good day to bury bad news" — so much anger and distress and fury has been vented against the clergy and the institutions of the Catholic Church that the political class seem a lesser object of hostility.

Contrary to claims that the Ryan Commission "shamed Ireland in the eyes of the world", apart from reportage that lasted precisely one day, it was barely noted in the London papers: the political shenanigans were far too exciting.

But if there is a somewhat less punitive attitude in Ireland towards politicians in general, it is still clear that the common ground between the two legislatures is a public desire for change — and reform — of the political systems, as well as change and reform of some of the persons and party machines running the show.

The common denominator is, obviously, that both sitting governments, and political administrations, have taken a drubbing. But while Brian Cowen is still in the saddle, the authority of Gordon Brown hangs by a thread, as a shoal of his Cabinet has resigned, and more resignations (and parliamentary rebellions) are expected after the full results of the European elections.

Will the established opposition parties — Fine Gael and Labour in Ireland, the Conservatives and Lib Dems in Britain — benefit from the disastrous results for the main parties in power? Or will the independents and marginal parties grow at the expense of the mainstream? In the English local elections, the Conservatives have inflicted a severe defeat on Labour — but their victory would not yield an overwhelming victory in a general election.

By contrast, some of the fringe parties gained ground: the UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party), which I call "British Sinn Fein" — its message being "Ourselves Alone" — has made considerable strides: as has the original Sinn Fein in the Euro elections in Northern Ireland. The ultra-nationalist British Nationalist Party — anti-immigration as well as anti-Europe — is also expected to show gains.

Yet, the striking aspect of the overall picture in both legislatures is this appetite for change and reform; and an almost unprecedented involvement with politics, and political discourse, in an era when political indifference seemed to be the keynote. And aren't we all thankful that electronic voting has not been introduced? The suspense of watching the numbers come in is far more animating.

I have a vote both in Dublin and in Kent, but I happened to be in Kent for this voting occasion, and maybe our family pattern is a vignette of how politics is shaping up. I voted for Libertas in the Euro poll, as I feel they are committed to holding the European Union to greater accountability; and for the Conservatives in the local elections because they are defending small shopkeepers, who I feel passionately should be defended. Other family members voted UKIP, in part to teach the established political classes a lesson — echoing the spirit of the moment.

And my husband abstained, citing the old Anarchist slogan: "Don't Vote — It Only Encourages Them!" Which is another way of telling the political class where to get off.

Contact: mkenny@independent.ie