Do reformers have to take themselves seriously?
[Thanks to Ted Cory, pharmacist and former comparative student who pointed out the first of these articles to me.]The Last Laugh of the Monster Raving Loonies
"'Politics are too serious a matter to be left to politicians. When Charles de Gaulle made this observation, the general-turned- President of France couldn't possibly have envisaged quite how many of the candidates competing in a July 10 by-election in a remote corner of northeastern England would be amateurs heeding his call to wrest the business of government from the political classes. Fourteen of the 26 hopefuls for the parliamentary seat of Haltemprice and Howden are not affiliated to any party... There's also a rich array of joke candidates pounding the streets on behalf of organizations such as Make Politicians History, the Church of the Militant Elvis and — the elder statesman of all joke parties — the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP), which for decades has been poking not-so-subtle fun at the poor saps who take British politics seriously..."Labour didn't bother to field a candidate. The third-biggest party, the Liberal Democrats, have also abstained...
"Though the OMRLP owes its inspiration to comedy (a founder Loony contested a 1981 by-election as Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin- whin-bim-lim-bus- stop-F'tang-F'tang-Ole-Biscuitbarrel, the name of the Silly Party candidate in a 1970 Monty Python sketch), the party has sometimes argued for policies that later became law...
"The last laugh may be on the likely winner, David Davis [a Conservative who served as Member of Parliament for Haltemprice and Howden from 1987 and also as Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 until he resigned from both positions on June 12], and on the rest of Westminster's sober-suited professional politicians.
"Amid declining trust in politicians and diminishing voter turnout at elections, the OMRLP's greatest triumph may reside in the fact that growing numbers of Britons may have come to treat the country's political mainstream as something of a joke."
And, to bring this story to its official and respectable end:
David Davis claims 'stunning' byelection victory
"David Davis claimed a "stunning victory" in his campaign to defend civil liberties after he was re-elected to parliament this morning and vowed to continue his campaign from the backbenches.
"David Cameron, the Tory leader, described his former shadow home secretary as a "brave and courageous" man, but made clear that Davis's surprise decision to quit Westminster to fight on the issue of 42 days' detention was a personal one.
"Davis swept back to Westminster with a 15,355 majority over 25 mostly fringe candidates in yesterday's vote.
"The turnout was 34.5%, not as low as some had expected, but still lower than the 58% who turned out to vote in the Crewe and Nantwich byelection in May..."
Click here to see the video of Davis' victory speech.
At the Guardian site, you'll also see the vote counting, and interviews with the OMRLP candidate, Mad Cow-Girl and Gemma Dawn Garrett representing the Miss Great Britain party.
Labels: concepts, politics, UK
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:50 AM
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