The General Election.

 The General Election

Yesterday afternoon the heavens opened just in time for tea and one man just stood in the pouring rain. He looked and sounded confident, unreasonably defiant but privately resigned to his fate. He stood there for a while and wondered whether he was being pushed out of his job whether he liked it or not. Sunak may hang around as Prime Minister for another five year stint. But in some eyes he was simply isolated, forlorn, clutching at straws and, above all, he was soaked to the skin, saturated, drenched, not exactly foolish but surely delusional.

It was early evening and the current Prime Minister was staring down the bottom of the barrel, suit, shirt and tie ruined and only a lectern in front of him to offer any kind of consolation. Besides, it wasn't the lectern's fault because quite clearly it was simply there to provide him with a platform for expression, reassuring the great British public that the country was on the way up, manufacturing prosperity was at its height, there was a feelgood factor and everything in the garden was rosy. Who was he kidding, the cynics might have added?

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak yesterday announced a General Election and some of the more impartial observers must have breathed a sigh of relief. It was not before time and finally the nation will be able to exercise their democratic right to vote for the next Prime Minister. Not too much to ask for and the country has never been readier, more prepared, champing at the bit. The timing was immaculate and, now, for the first time in ages, the good people of Britain will take themselves off to their local church hall, village hall or community centre and tick the box for their political party. It will be their preferred choice of a candidate or candidates to lead the country in the right direction but for most of us it'll be just another chapter in the often turbulent history of  British politics.

But what of yesterday's watery spectacle? Poor Rishi Sunak would probably have given anything for a brolley or any kind of umbrella to protect him from the elements. It was chucking it down and for those who felt sorry for him, it was a suitable metaphor for Sunak's state of mind. It was raining in his heart but whatever happens on July 4th, he'll still be there, fighting the good fight, battling manfully for his Great Britain and hoping that he's done more than enough to capture the imagination of everybody around him.

Still, there was Sunak, his lean, wiry frame smartly attired in formal shirt, jacket and tie and wishing the day had been bathed in hot, sweltering sunshine rather than yesterday's rain on his parade. There was, at times, a sadness in his eyes and an obvious recognition of the daunting task in front of him. Of course he'll be busting a gut to win the General Election but something deep within Sunak must have told him that the last train was calling and it was time to pack his bags before regrettably leaving 10, Downing Street. The Tory party he was presiding was still in toxic, fractious mood, grumbling under their breath and just irreparably divided on all the more urgent issues of the day.

For a while now the Tories have been treading water, flapping furiously, getting extremely agitated and dissatisfied with their lot. This has been a long and gruelling journey for the Conservative party and no one knows this to be the case better than Sunak and his colleagues. Now the Cabinet are snapping at Sunak's heels, getting all hot and bothered by what they see as Sunak's complete lack of proper leadership. To be perfectly honest the last year or so has all been about damage limitation and Sunak knows this to be true.

It was rumoured that Sunak would leave the date of the General Election until at least the end of July or quite possibly August but then that would have been delaying the inevitable. So yesterday afternoon his Cabinet ministers looked at their Smart Phones and saw the news they might have been dreading. Yes friends, Sunak was going to the country, waving the white flag of surrender and going to the polls. It's time to vote for your man, woman, eccentric, the quirky element or just the dissenting voices who simply want to be heard. But Sunak is no quitter and this is no time to throw in the towel.

We will gather on the morning of July 4th, across the great cities, towns, villages, hamlets, cottages, churches, synagogues, babbling brooks, the impressive looking waterfalls and streams and all manner of habitations and dwellings. Together we will dutifully troop down to our local voting booths where we'll be greeted by friendly, smiling faces who will ask for your name, address, post code and some might be sufficiently nosy and inquisitive enough to ask for your leg measurements.

You'll be ushered over to have your identities confirmed before moving over to those very private wooden voting booths. You'll pause for breath because, quite frankly, most of us are so disillusioned with mainstream politics that they'd probably vote for some inanimate object such as a chair or table to lead the country. Besides a chair or table is hardly likely to count on our votes so who's to say whether they could do any worse? Those loud, noisy, haranguing, hectoring, judging and pontificating politicians are beginning to get on our nerves so the sooner the General Election is over we can just ignore them for the rest of the year.

Now more than ever you're reminded of the fall of the Roman empire. For 14 long, frequently controversial, contentious and argumentative years, the Conservative party have been at war with both themselves and the public who just wanted them to trust in the Tories. And now we've reached boiling point. The pressure cooker is steaming away and the natives are restless. Short of taking to the streets and marching with placards next to the House of Commons, your personal impression is that there could be a major revolt well before July and stormy riots could be on the cards. The people of Britain are angry and a General Election can't come quickly enough.

For their part Rishi Sunak and his closest allies are defending their corner, hunkering down in the bunker, cowering and trembling but brave and heroic as you'd expect them to be. 14 years in government though is outstaying their welcome, past their sell by date, too long folks. To quote the populist mantra of the moment, it's time to change, making a fresh new start and radically transform the political landscape. The Labour party are just star struck. Suddenly overnight the nation has warmed to them and they're back in the public's good books. How fortunes can swing in your favour when once it looked absolutely hopeless. It's time to look now Sir Keir Starmer your country may need you.

But it's at this time that we look back at the chequered history of political leaders who have been widely praised to the skies or despised rather like the most evil villain. For Tory read Labour. When Harold Wilson, Labour leader and Prime Minister met Edward Heath of the Conservatives, the exchanges were often feisty and explosive. Of course there was a mutual suspicion and then loathing of each other since both came from completely different ideologies and their long term objectives would have been in marked contrast to each other. Heath took us into what became the ill fated Common Market while Wilson was always arguing with trade union movements.

Then came Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first ever female Prime Minister who was still there 11 years after being elected as Prime Minister. Thatcher reluctantly left Downing Street in floods of tears while Neil Kinnock in the red Labour corner could only regret what might have been had he been Prime Minister. Then there was John Major going head to head with Tony Blair in the red Labour corner, Boris Johnson just blowing everybody away with his absurdities, Theresa May who became the second female Prime Minister who just fell by the wayside because of Brexit and Liz Truss who was Prime Minister for roughly five minutes but not before almost bankrupting Britain and rubbing everybody up the wrong way.

And so we find ourselves at a political crossroads. On July 4th, the USA will be celebrating National Independence Day while across the Atlantic pond, Britain will be bracing itself for another Punch and Judy show with an almost political cabaret and burlesque to follow. From early morning when the voting stations open up to late at night the day will be dominated by talking heads, prattling politicians both local and national, graphs, charts, graphics but sadly no Peter Snow BBC swingometers which does seem a shame. Then there will follow the carefully considered analyses, the margins of victory, those incredible swings to the right and the left and yet more detailed discussion. By July 5th we can all come out again because a new Prime Minister will be in situ. Oh what sweet joy. We can hardly wait.