I have been here since September 2007, save for a 5 month interruption, and every time there is an election here, I am amazed at the way the Brits handle politics. This week rekindled my amazement, on the occasion of the Mayoral elections in London.
I am not quite sure whether my qualification to vote in British elections (local and national) are due to Malta being part of the E.U. or the Commonwealth, but every time there is some sort of electoral activity, I always get the vote in the post. This time, it was time to elect a new Mayor. I recall the last Mayoral election, in which I had voted. This time round, I did get the chance to vote, but of all days, I left the office at 9pm on the ballot day and got home too late to pick up my ballot card and head off to the polling station and cast my vote. In any case, Boris was re-elected on the Tory ticket, but it was only by a whisker, at least by British standards. And Labour gained massive votes throughout the rest of the country, apparently; I still have to adjourn myself with what was happening over the past 3 days...
What is extraordinary, particularly for someone who comes from Malta, where partisan politics are almost as important (if not in equal measures) to religion, that the Brits do not really care much on politics. Not that they are not voting or anything, but there is none of the month-long drama which unfolds back home, with bill boards, tons of leaflets in the mail, hotly debated issues, controversies and what not. The country (or the city in this case) proceeds as usual; there is no unnecessary tension in the air. So much so, that I had almost completely forgotten about the election, until I was on the Tube en route home and there was one result forecast on the front page of the Evening Standard.
Well, I suppose life for all Londoners will go on, be it with Boris or with Ken, though the latter had the much-appealing promise of cutting down the Tube fares, though it seems that the Left and Right are in a delicate state of balance in Europe and beyond: a new Conservative Greek prime minister (though alarming Greek voters preferred to give their preferences to Neo Nazi candidates), Putin is back in power in Russia, French premiere Sarkozy who is now replaced by Socialist Hollande and Merkel's coalition in Germany is hanging off a thin string. And Malta? Maybe an election is due much sooner than we thought...
