It's business as usual again

Although the title may sound a bit like the infamous "it's deja vu all over again", the apparent tautology is deliberate and alludes to the fact that once again last week's election has given us the same old three-party domination across the UK (four, of course, in Scotland) and the sea change in politics promised in the wake of the expenses scandal failed to materialise. In particular, the hoped for election of independent-minded politicians as a bloody nose for the mainstream parties was never really on the cards, as had already been demonstrated in contests such as the European elections last June, and the Norwich North and Glasgow North East Westminster by-elections later in the year.

Thus even Esther Rantzen lost her deposit in Luton South, and there was little other evidence of independents doing well. Indeed, even the two independents from the last Parliament failed to get re-elected. And after their pitiful showing in the Euro elections and the over-hyped and ultimate humiliation of John Smeaton in Glasgow North East, the Jury Team seemed to be fielding a mere dozen or so candidates last week, but it's not even clear if this happened, or if the plug was pulled prior to the vote. An anonymous blogger wearing a mask and standing under a pseudonym claimed to be standing under the Jury Team umbrella, and this was perhaps a fitting epitaph.

Of course, Caroline Lucas was elected for the Greens in Brighton, but outside Northern Ireland that seemed to be about the nearest thing to a successful independent. In Buckingham John Stevens of the Buckinghamshire Campaign for Democracy secured a creditable ten thousand plus votes, but this was in Commons speaker John Bercow's constituency, thus there were no candidates from the mainstream parties. And even the likes of the Virtual Currency Cognitive Appraisal Party, Get Snouts Out The Trough (sic) and the Go Mad and Vote For Yourself Party failed to make an impact.

Thus the promise of reform and the retiral of the worst expenses offenders seemed to be enough to placate the public, and where the likes of Jacqui Smith were brazen enough to stand again they were replaced by another mainstream candidate. Nevertheless, it might have been thought that the strength of feeling over the expenses scandal would have thrown up one or two Martin Bell-style figures, but the nearest thing to this was perhaps Nick Clegg's initial showing in the televised leaders' debates, but even this proved a short-lived bubble when the public realised that he too was really nothing new.

Nevertheless, last week's result was of course different in that the first past the post electoral system failed to produce an outright winner from the Labour/Conservative duopoly and it looks like the Lib Dems at the very least will be involved in forming the next Government, with the price of their support being a proportional voting system, and thus the end of two-party politics forever, or so it's suggested.

But what's the betting that the inherent weakness and instability of any coalition, alliance or agreement will lead to an early election under FPTP, the return of a Conservative majority Government, and after a term or two of financial austerity the return of a Labour administration and thus back to the two-party system?