Gary's views

PENDULUMS

The pendulum is swinging. I never write about party politics and will not do so today, except to suggest that almost as soon as I was elected to Parliament in 1992 my party’s fortunes plummeted. I am hoping it has nothing to do with me! You will understand therefore that after 15 years of being on the back foot it feels rather better to now be on the front foot. Last weeks results were sweet indeed.

It is crucial in any democracy that the main opposition party has a chance of recapturing power to avoid a one party state. After more than a decade when that was not the case, normal service seems to be being resumed.

But something deeper than a shift in the temporary popularity of any of the political parties is underfoot. Attitudes to key issues in our country have changed in recent months. The pollsters have begun to record this and I have noticed it increasingly in the constituency.

For ten years, maybe twelve, nobody ever complained to me about being over taxed – frustrating but true. Now it is a widespread complaint. The pendulum is swinging. People look at their wage slip and see how much is deducted, do not see the improvements in public services and wonder where the money is going. For most of the last decade, few people complained to me about those who could work but chose not to work. Now this has become once again a real focus (rightly so in my opinion) especially in relation to young people. Why should the rest of us be keeping this small minority of shirkers in booze when they won’t earn or learn for themselves? (Extract from a recent e-mail) Once again the pendulum is swinging. It is moving on law and order, immigration and welfare reform.

The British people are basically a good hearted bunch. With all of the challenges facing us, this is still the best country in the world to live. But after a decade of spending an unprecedented fortune on public services, being very generous and inclusive to all and sundry, the silent majority is moving decisively towards a more robust approach to key political issues.

The party that understands this and encapsulates the genuine public mood shift will reap the electoral rewards and be in power for a generation, until the old pendulum starts to stall and swing back once more.

Maybe it was ever thus.