The Most Important Seat In The World!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Been busy of late: I blame the Scottish Falsetto Socks!

Anyway, my friend Hannah Snailham recently received a letter from the Conservative Party candidate for Truro and Falmouth, Sarah Newton - whose address appears to be outside of the constituency in St Austell, but hey, that's not the issue here!

The point is, she reckons Truro and Falmouth is the most important seat OF THE WHOLE BUNCH. D'aww.

At the end of her letter she says "PS To change the government in Westminster, the Conservatives have to win here in Truro & Falmouth".

I had no idea we were that much of an influence! To change the government in Westminster, you say? Deary me, that's an awful lot of MPs to change when there's just 64,587 of us. We'll have to be split into groups of 100 in order to vote in the whole bunch!

Still, at least we'll be comforted by the fact that as long as we vote in a Conservative MP, the Tories are bound to win. Honest. Even if they're not the largest party, as long as they've got Truro and Falmouth, the Conservatives will most definitely get rid of Labour. Though that will create a bit of turmoil: after all, if we're the most important seat in the UK, then the new Conservative government will have to switch its HQ to Truro! What a hypothetical palava.

RANT OVER

Sorry for all the sarcasm, but really. One seat making all the difference? When has that ever happened? Even in 1974 it was more than just one seat. The point is, Sarah Newton doesn't need to do this in order to get my vote. She simply needs to tell me what her policies are. And giving people a survey in order to construct those policies is constructive in ways, it seems to suggest she hasn't quite got the firm policies yet.

But despite all my supposed Tory bashing, I'm willing to give her a chance. And interestingly, the Conservatives are the only party with an official spokesman for Cornwall, Mark Prisk: which is encouraging until you find out he's the MP for Hertford and Stortford. Still, he's Cornwall born-and-bred, so I'm relatively convinced he's sincere.

And part of me would like to believe that the constituency of Truro and Falmouth really will have a say in the running of the country (we do have one of the few sleeper trains that goes to London, after all): but it sounds dangerously optimistic to me. Can an MP in Cornwall really rise to the top ranks of the Cabinet? In Sarah Newton's case, we'll have to see. She has to get in first!

Chris

PS She has a Facebook page. 53 members, apparently. It does make a change from "I found this thing really funny and ROFLCOPTER"

Clegg: More Than Just Cameron-Lite

To be honest, when most people my age think of Nick Clegg, the usual criticism is this: "He's just Cameron, only even less convincing. Now, if he was a bit more like Vince Cable..."

It's a view I've often shared. Who tore into the banks about their handling of the recession? Vince Cable. Who's written a book on the economic crisis? Vince Cable. Who actually gets voters out of their seats with his no-nonsense attitude? Vince Cable.

So it's refreshing to see the actual leader take not only a decisive stance, but a fiercely anti-Tory stance as well. Clegg claims that "there is nothing positive in the Conservatives' election strategy". Perhaps a bit obvious when you consider these posters...

But at least he's trying. After all, it would have been very easy for Clegg to agree in principle to a coalition with the Conservatives, especially as together they could easily have a comfortable majority, but he hasn't budged from his stance. He wants a fairer voting system, and that means a rejection of the two-party system: ergo, he can't afford to help either party stay in power. Of course, that means attacking both parties equally: so he attacks the Labour Party's record in Scotland one day, and attacks the Conservatives on the next.


The possible downside to this is that he's falling for the very thing he's accusing Cameron of: negative campaigning. But to be honest, the Lib Dems' image frequently suffers from the general consensus that they're a bit too nice to be in power: so by coming out and swinging a few punches, Clegg will arguably help his position. He's right in saying the Conservatives are scaremongering in the City - that's where a lot of support lies, and their use of it makes a lot of sense - but he needs to find a way to bring Brown down a peg or two. There's something bizarre about Brown being able to mess up the economy so much and still possibly "get away with it": and is eighteen years of Labour really a good idea? Remember what the voters thought of the previous eighteen years in '97, after all.

So, as I've argued before, a "divide and conquer" strategy is needed: perhaps by pointing out that Labour are just as guilty as the Conservatives with regards to their nom-dom supporters, or demonstrating the lack of support from both Tory and Labour front benches for constitutional reform last week? It's obviously a tricky situation: Clegg arguably needs to distance himself from Cameron in order to gain more of the vote, but not so much that he's seen as pro-Government. But repeated attacks such as these could be the key to the Lib Dems making those important gains.


It'll be interesting to see if he can come out fighting in the televised debates as well. Once more with feeling, Mr Clegg!