Wednesday 30th September
The year is incredibly three quarters gone. For quite a long time I had looked forward to 2015 because it was a General Election year; the opinion polls were looking quite favourable and there was a chance of dislodging the hated Coalition. Well, as Joni sang “That was just a dream some of us had.” The reality hit us on May 6th that the Tories were here to stay and no brake, real or imagined, to be applied by the Lib-Dems. That was quite a momentous day, we had at one point three party leaders resigning and a somewhat bemused Nicola Sturgeon realizing that despite winning all but two of the seats in Scotland the Tories were looking even more secure than ever.
I must admit now that I was never that convinced by Ed Milliband. Electorally his brother would have been a better choice but there we were, stuck with a slightly more left-wing but far more awkward man. Sometimes he said the right things, but for long periods he simply made no impression at all. In the end the electorate thought it safer to stick with the Devil they knew. Then there were the leadership contests. Ukip immediately insisted that Nigel Farage should remain, his whole resignation merely a stunt. The Liberals were reduced to a rump – well, frankly who cared. And Labour had three candidates that seemed to lack any charisma or ideas at all. Almost at the last minute Jeremy Corbyn emerged, as if to add a touch of all-inclusiveness to the boredom. But slowly he won people round and in the end won by a huge margin, incidentally re-invigorating a pretty moribund party. And now it is the end of September and we are all beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. It has been a momentous year, but strangely it feels as if little has really changed. And life here in France poodles on; it is still sunny though cooler and quieter too. And the terrible thought occurs to me; less than three months to Christmas !!!!!