More people voted Labour than for any other party
Pr00ne,
More spin of the 'carefully chosen words' variety that seem so popular with those of your ilk.
What you meant was, since you already pointed out how our 'first past the post' electoral system works, that Labour returned more MPs to the house. Not exactly the same thing, is it?
One thing is for sure - Blairism is now dead and buried. With many Labour MPs breaking cover and openly calling for Blair's resignation, the old guard of the Labour party will soon be back in the driving seat. There will be open warfare within the party soon, Brown will take over, taxes will rocket and public service 'reforms' will suddenly disappear from the agenda.
In reality, this is the best outcome we could have hoped for - it may be painful, but it will destroy the Labour party and relegate them to a couple of decades of opposition after the next election. A weak Tory govt would have been no good at all, and would probably meant more Labour after the next election. In 4-5 yrs time, with the Tories in a stronger position, and not fighting against a huge Labour majority, they will be able to go back to their right-wing roots, get some proper policies that people actually want instead of trying to pander to the pinkos, and get elected. The longer Labour stay in power, the more to the right the political centre of gravity will move among the electorate, and particularly the middle classes, who's only real attraction to Labour was Blairism.
Just for the record, Pr00ne et al, there was a significant (but not big enough) swing to the Tories nationally. In certain areas it was VERY significant. This is not the vote of an electorate that wants to be governed by Labour, but of an electorate that feels there is no credible alternative at the moment. But there will be, in the future, and socialism will finally die the death it deserves.
16B