Good night, Gordon?

I have a spring in my step this morning thanks to the complete drubbing Labour is receiving as the results from yesterday's local elections come in. As I type, they've lost 162 seats, with 100 of 159 councils declared and in third place on the popular vote with just 24%.

Various Labour MPs have been wheeled out this morning. The talk is the usual guff about how "we need to reflect on the results" and how "we need to listen to what people are saying". Well, Harriet Harman and friends, I think it's pretty clear what people are saying. They're saying "fuck off, Labour!".

Quote of the morning so far goes to chief whip Geoff Hoon, who said "there's no crisis!". Hmm, sounds familiar...



I do love the smell of irony in the morning.

We won't find out the situation in London until later today, possibly as late as tonight. The results so far don't bode well for Ken. This particular blogger is a late convert to Ken after concluding that London is probably best served by someone who knows what they're doing, rather than someone who hasn't really run anything in his life. Some may wonder how I can delight in Labour's kicking and be a Conservative supporter, yet back Ken for mayor. Well, I'm not a blind follower of all things Conservative. Boris Johnson was a poor choice of a mayoral candidate, though probably the party's best option considering nobody else really wanted the job. He may well win, but in good conscience, I can't pretend he's the best man for a very particular job.

While not supporting Boris, I must pass comment on the hatchet jon the Guardian attempted on him yesterday, a six-page feature in G2 dedicated to soundbites from the great and the good about how Boris shouldn't be mayor. The feature was by-lined by Zoe Williams. It's not really the article itself that bothered me, but rather the intro:

"Unbelievable as it may seem, Boris Johnson has a real chance of being elected London mayor today. Zoe Williams and other Londoners imagine what it would be like if this bigoted, lying, Old Etonian buffoon got his hands on our diverse and liberal capital"

In particular, the 'Old Etonian' reference irritates me immensely. So what if Boris went to Eton? He was a kid, I really doubt he had much of a choice. The simple fact the someone has been to Eton has become a slur. David Cameron is on the receiving end of it too. It's nothing less than inverted snobbery. Ex-pupils of Eton get labelled as 'toffs' simply for having had to go there, yet the people throwing the label around with barely veiled contempt seem entirely oblivious to the fact they're being just as snobbish as they perceive the Eton pupils to be. It's truly pathetic.