The Election Post

I like an election. Mostly because there aren't too many of them, and the run-up isn't too long. I don't like elections enough to want one every day, you understand. And this one's a doozie since it's actually, for once, not apparent who's going to win. Exciting! I've been trying to do a bit of research so as to be able to cast my vote properly. After all, suffragettes and so on.

However, it's not as easy as it looks. First of all, until today we'd had no electioneering bumph from anyone through the door. And second of all, once you do get election bumph, you realise it all looks the bloody same - less crime, better health services, improvements in schools etc etc etc. I know there are differences e.g. over immigration, but they seem few and far between sometimes.

So I went to the BBC's election pages which are pretty good because they do at least tell you who the candidates are in your area, and what the results were last time. And in our leafy Bucks constituency, you'll all be shocked to learn that the winner last time was a Tory, with over 50% of the votes. Interestingly, however, the LibDems were in 2nd place, with just over a quarter of the votes. So in our area, it looks like a vote for Labour is the wasted vote, not a vote for the LibDems, as is traditional.

Anyway, I've decided to base my decision this year on the issue which really matters for me personally, at this point in time. Which is Education. I don't think Labour have a great record, but then again I think we're struggling with issues that all developed economies are struggling with - namely, that our education system was designed in and for the industrial age, and we're now deeply embedded in the knowledge economy, which our education system is clearly out of step with. I say clearly because so many employers are complaining that that kids coming out of schools aren't equipped for the workplace - they were, on the other hand, when most of them were going into manual labour.

Is this the right way to decide how to cast my vote? Is there a right way? After all, it's my vote, and I'll make my decision in my own way. I'm looking forward to heading for the polling station on 6 May, once I've finally made up my mind. I have a vision of the four of us, as a family, wandering down the road on a balmy Spring evening, and exercising our constitutional rights - now it'll probably pour with rain, and no-one will turn out, and it'll all be a damp squib. But I hope not!