It would be fair to assume that in light of the American Presidential elections just under two years ago, political aristocrats and enthusiasts alike would relish another opportunity to see leading politicians engage in an enduring battle for covenanted seats of power. However, the upcoming British General election will not reach the engrossing and intriguing heights of its American counterpart. Electioneering has only officially started a number of weeks ago, but the British electorate may be forgiven for wishing the process would come to a premature end.
Whilst it was difficult to predict the outcome of the American election, Samantha Cameron should already be measuring number 10’s windows for curtain sizes. I wholeheartedly believe the Conservative party will handsomely win power in June, accompanied by a considerably large majority. However, the only lasting consequence of this political adjustment is that David Cameron will now be engrossed in a war of unsubstantiated hyperbole from the opposite dispatch box in the House of Commons. For some, Conservatism might represent a shift from the fledgling Gordon Brown and his self-harming Labour Party, but after the honeymoon period has ended, the ruling party will endure the same, and worse, antagonisms and transgressions that undermined Labour in the latter years. So what advice can I offer the weary British electorate as an interested foreigner? Will Conservative rule be that bad?
The rationale underlining my apprehension as to the Conservatives’ Governmental aptitude is rooted in their prospective policies and vision. Yes, it is not only David Cameron’s glossy election poster that has been airbrushed. His policies have successfully received minimal scrutiny, mainly as a result of Gordon Brown possessing the articulation skills of a robot, and the British media’s obsession with unscrupulous inter party slanging rather than the materiality of policies.
For example, the electorate should pay particular attention to the prospective policy measures aiming to reduce the effects of the economic recession. The policy espoused by Cameron rests on the necessity of reducing public spending in order to balance the national debt, which currently stands at £829.7 billion. The Public and Government alike have to tighten their belts in order to avoid future adversity. At first glance this seems reasonable. However, most economists have convulsed in fear of the aforementioned. In times of recession most families are making financial cut backs, thus there is less money spent in the commercial sector. This is the catalyst for the Government to initiate a financial stimulus package, sometimes supported by borrowing, to assist the economy in its recovery and prevent its collapse. You then pay back the debt when the economy is stable, a position Cameron rejects.
The adverse implications for Cameronomics can be witnessed in Ireland. The centre right government reduced taxes and public spending. Presently, the economy has contracted by 15%, one of the sharpest contractions of a modern industrial nation, and unemployment has increased to 12.5%. Evidently, Cameron has misjudged his economics. The policy currently implemented by the Labour Party, whilst undoubtedly not the immediate cure to the dire economic situation, has long-term merits. Before long, figures for unemployment and High Street sales should indicate positive improvements in the economy. Consequentially, should the electorate offer Labour a reprieve, just like the incumbent Tories, who battled victoriously through equally traumatic recessions of 1980-81/1991-92?
Nevertheless, I am sceptical as to whether Gordon Brown’s dying wish can be granted and he will be able to return to his perch of power. He may possess a myriad of more credible policies but lacks the essential skill of advocacy to present them. This will be detrimental but he lacks a much more critical attribute that will ultimately lead to his political death and Conservative rule. He fails to inspire confidence.
As suggested by the mumblings of discontent and evidenced by resignations and an attempted leadership challenge, Brown cannot command the support of his own cabinet. How can he expect to inspire confidence in a suspicious nation? He is a weak leader that only survived last month’s leadership challenge by granting concessions to opportunistic cabinet colleagues and the inability of others to offer themselves as willing replacements. His laudable policies fall on the deaf ears of cabinet officials and the electorate, as they do not have confidence in their merits.
The only option available to Brown is to admit his faults, accept his skills are better placed in the Treasury, and let a younger, fresh-faced rhetorician save Labour, in the short time before the election, from political extinction. Perhaps, give Tony Blair a call. Of course, the previous scenario is improbable, so get ready for a decade of blue rule.
