The Green Shoots of a Conservative Revival?

Abstract

2004 was a wilderness year, or so I claimed last year, and suggested that 2005, though it was likely to be an election year, offered little prospect of major change in the political climate or indeed of any excitement aroused even by the possibility of such a change.¹ In short, from the party political perspective, another wilderness year. This safe prediction proved to be accurate and causes me to reflect that Andrew Russell’s claim that the general election dominated the year is not one that I would support. It was, in fact, rather like Bunny Clubs of the 1960s, where nothing happened and nothing was supposed to happen. The election aroused little public excitement and, very soon after, it simply ceased to be a topic of conversation. A government that had generally lost the affection and trust of the people, including many of its own supporters, was returned to office largely because, in the public perception, there was simply no viable alternative. Its majority, slashed by nearly 100, was still easily large enough in theory to allow it to complete any legislative programme that enjoyed general party support. On the other hand, this is not to suggest that because the election was almost a non-event for the citizen, the result was without interest to the student of politics.