the brilliantly leaping gazelle

Not that I’m obsessed or anything but is it only me that finds something deeply concerning and inherently troubling for our democracy in the EU election results. Not because of the party that emerged victorious, although that is deeply concerning and inherently troubling enough for the consequences it could engender. But because only 39.6% of people eligible to vote, actually bothered to do so.

I mean, it’s not as if our future relationship with Europe hasn’t dominated the political landscape over the last three years, in the same way that Celtic FC have dominated Scottish football over the same period.

And it’s not as if voting here is in any way an onerous activity. You’re more likely to be greeted by a bored election official in a church hall than to risk death from a suicide bomber, is it? It makes me more annoyed than the Brexit Party winning, that more people didn’t vote than did, but not as much as realizing that 31% of voters didn’t vote in the EU referendum. What was so pressingly important that it trumped that?

I find it staggeringly pathetic of people not to vote. It was only comparatively recently that women got the vote, although this gave rise to the widespread belief that women would vote the way men in their life wanted them too. Some men still think they can do that. Because who one votes for is nowhere near as important as taking an active role in the democratic process, because if one doesn’t vote, not only is your vote not cast, but worse, the that the vote of the people who do bother is worth more, because it’s counted and yours is not.

If the rules of the EU referendum had stipulated that be legally binding, at least 75& of eligible voters needed to vote and that the winners would be required to have won by at least 15% of votes cast. But a) thats not how referendum’s work and more importantly, it was never a legally binding vote, just the largest indicative non binding vote in British history. So anyone who claims that yesterdays means anything other than huge swathes of voter disengagement with the political process is at best deluding themselves and at worst, deluding others. I mean, really? Only 39.6% of eligible voters did so and of those that did, only 32% voted for the Brexit party? Not exactly what you’d call a ringing endorsement, is it.

So given given that 60.1% of people didn’t bother to vote, maybe ITV was right in it’s judgement not to provide coverage of the EU election results after all.

Last nights EU election results gave the country the worst possible outcome. Inasmuch as the Tory party will be as scared of the Brexit party as they were of UKIP after the EU elections in 2014, which triggered the mess we’re in now. And a consequence of this will be the election of a Tory leader who MP’s and members hope will reverse this electoral apocalypse in an General Election, by promoting a harder Brexit that returns them to power. Talk about narrow self-interest! That would be the 0.27% of the population, the majority of whom are white, middle class and over 65, those people, the one’s reflect only themselves and not the country as a whole. Talk about niche!

Had Teresa May used the political capital that she had upon her election as Tory leader, then this whole mess could’ve been avoided. Remember those days when compromise was not only possible but also practical? When doing so, building a consensus might have helped heal the divisions that the referendum exposed, rather than not doing so exacerbated? Whereas she thought she was fucking Noel Edmonds, well not fucking Noel Edmonds in that way! I’m sorry to put that image in your head, no one wants that.

And whilst we’re on the subject – not of disturbing conjugal pairings – but things niche, anyone who knows me will know I feel incredibly strongly about this, indeed my partner has to put up with my annual Christmas rant about this. It concerns the abject failure of ITV to provide even the slightest suggestion that they haven’t just thrown in the towel as regards quality programming, but instead rely on ‘talent’ shows, soaps and sport. Oh not forgetting quiz shows and anything they can persuade ‘celebrities’ to do. Anything, it would seem, to keep advertisers happy, and thus shareholders in profit. At 1am I switched over from the BBC’s excellent election coverage to see what ITV was doing. Live roulette befouled my eyes yet even Sky was covering the results. Even Sky! I know the BBC comes in for criticism, some of it well deserved, but by quite a wide margin it’s head and shoulders way better than commercial television. Anyone who’s had the misfortune to endure American television is well aware of that! And don’t get me started on the superiority of BBC Radio – well Radio 4 and the World Service – over everything in every possible way! They just are.

And we’re off! Emily Thornberry Labours ForSec has already got me well into my drinking game. I’m worried that I’ll run out of alcohol if this continues. mount

1st result in Brexit Party have 39% of the vote. But ET is sticking to the tired rhetoric of calling for a 2^nd referendum.

The story that’s emerging is that Brexit party is doing really well, in fact their % share of the vote is x2 that of LibDems, not that you’d get that from Ed Davey MP.

Another result, another whopping victory for the Brexit party, who got double the vote of the 2^nd placed Lib Dems

London has declared LD”s won, no shock, but the story is yet again the 18 % for share the Brexit party. Emily Thornberry is confusing her mouth with her anus. SecRef? Laura K giving her a grilling over her vacillation. Good.

Heidi Allen from Change UK costing me lots of drinks

Good analysis from John Cuticle, essentially polarization more entrenched = share between parties for hard brexit as for remain. LK thinks parties that have clarity do well

No news of rest of Europe yet. Yorkshire&Humber declared Brexi party x2 share vote of Labour

Quote of the Night by Mark Fracoius MP on Tory loses ‘The effluent product has affected to the rotary air conditioning unit”

Ann Widdecombe on. R thinks she looks like Alastair Sim in his female guise, whereas I think she looks like Doc Brown in ‘Back to the Future’ what with her mad hair, even madder eyes and completely bizarre way of ending each question by dismissively trying to stare out the camera. Mad as a box of frogs, that one.

Because traditional election night results show follow a ‘who’s done well, who hasn’t, what does this mean ‘ formula and gets party apologists to parrot pre-arranged talking points, the astounding success of the Brexit party is not given the prominence it deserves or explaining the reasons for its success imho

John Cuticle is saying the result is, in its simplest form, a draw.

Headlines about results in France and Germany, but apart from that, nothing. Poor

BBC coverage over so time for bed!