Election Fatigue

We must once again speak of elections - after all, this still supposedly the editorial blog of a satire site, (although, over the years, it has taken on a life of its own).  General elections really should be the lifeblood of satire, generating so many story ideas and driving interest in politics, but I have to say that this one has failed too enthuse me.  So far, I've been able to muster only one story over at The Sleaze directly linked to the election - even that was planned in advance, as an election this year was inevitable.  This inevitably is part, I think of the problem.  We've waited so long for an election date, with the government interminably stalling on it, desperately hoping that things would get better for them, that now that it has come, it just seems anti-climactic.  I really should be more excited - if the polls are to be believed then, for the first time in fourteen years, I'm going to end up on the winning side.  Even better, there's a very good chance that my local Tory MP could be unseated by the Labour candidate.  Yet, I remain apathetic, not even being bothered by the fact that I missed Keir Starmer's recent visit to the constituency, (I was at Dunelm, buying a bread bin) - thanks to the number of emails I get sent in his name, courtesy of my Labour Party membership, I've begun to think of him as a personal friend.  Like the rest of the country, I made up my mind long ago as to how I was going to vote and now I just want it all over and done with.

Of course, various political pundits would disagree with me on that last point, claiming that large numbers of voters remain undecided and could all vote Tory.  That's right, we're back to the 'shy Tories' business where Tory voters are supposedly so ashamed of their voting intentions that they won't reveal them to pollsters.  I find it fascinating that we only get this sort of speculation when opinion polls are giving large leads to Labour going into an election.   Likewise, we never seem to see the press warning of the dangers of a Tory 'super majority' when the tables are turned.  Obviously, this can't have anything to do with the fact that most of this country's press is controlled by Tory donors and supporters, could it?  While, undoubtedly, the most entertaining aspect of this election campaign, so far, was been watching the Tory campaign implode amidst allegations of candidates betting on the election date just before it was publicly announced, even this felt inevitable.  The last few years of Tory government have been utterly shambolic and corrupt, so it really comes as no surprise that their campaign to be re-elected follows a similar blueprint.  That said, I was rather worried when their campaign director had to stand down amidst these betting allegations - assuming that he had money of a big Labour win, I feared that the campaign might improve with his removal.  I needn't have worried, though, it's still been utterly dire.  Ah well, roll on 4th July.