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I take on board what you say about employment rates, but I honestly think it is better to have a bad centre-right administration than a bad socialist administration. I remember seeing a documentary on TV about the Winter Of Discontent and a number of ex-Labour people from the time were saying that.

When the Tories were thrown out in 1997 and Labour got its biggest ever win, with a centre-right agenda but one that had a bit more of a social conscience than the Tories had, I remember a commentator saying "it wasn't Conservatism that was rejected, but the Conservatives".

I don't believe the huge period of time it has been since the Tories last won an election outright is down to policy, both main parties now are very similar and have been since Tony Blair came along, my view is that there are a lot of places now where one can go if they are centre-right in their politics and might not like the Tories or Labour. The Lib Dems have really taken off in the last 25 years by soaking up lots of votes from people who are Tory in their thinking but don't like the Tory party. UKIP is getting a lot of that now too. Two party politics is over it seems, we now have four or five party politics.

"Now come on Maxy, he was a minister for about ten years, wasn't he?"

I've just looked on Wikipedia, Tony Benn held the following positions for the durations quoted:

Energy Secretary 1975-79
Industry Secretary 1974-75
Minister for Technology 1966-70
Postmaster General 1964-66

He was the MP for Bristol South West from 1963-83, I believe this seat disappeared because of boundary changes (I'm stating this from memory, I've not looked it up) then to keep him in the Commons as a kind of Long Service Medal he was put forward for the seat of Chesterfield, which he would win, and he held that from 1984-2001. He held it with a huge majority. Like I said previously you can make someone an MP by putting them forward for a safe seat - people just vote for that party, it is incidental who the candidate is.

I've said on this thread and previously on the forum that Tony Benn got a lot more coverage for the rest of his life than he deserved. Anyone watching how much he was on TV throughout the 1980's, 90's and so on - and if they didn't know much about him - would probably have thought he was a former prime minister. In fact he was on TV more than any living ex-PM was. He had a poltical career, the same as many other Labour people from that period, the same as many Tory people in later years did too, but none of them were as ubiquitous as him. He wanted to become Prime Minister, he never even managed to become the leader of the party - in spite of trying to. To satisfy his ego he demanded to be relentlessly on TV and in newspapers and to be viewed as one of the most important and significant politicians around - all without justification. He got it too.

How and why editors and sub-editors went along with what he wanted is beyond me. You sometimes get MP's who get vastly more coverage than they deserve still - George Galloway is an example. But he is on telly a lot because he is controversial and that makes good viewing. Stephen Pound who was always on Sky News talking about the latest current affairs and/or news issue is another one.



' "Like I said, it is not hard to make someone an MP." Vote Max, you know it makes sense! I will be your Campaign Manager if you give me half of your expenses. '

Haha! I'll tell you this though, if I had lots of close relatives who were very chummy with influential people within one of the main parties at Westminster it could easily be arranged for me to become an MP. As I say, just put the person forward for a safe seat. This is how Tony Benn's son ended up in the Commons, how Tony Benn himself ended up there the second time around, how Nick Hurd, the son of Douglas Hurd ended up in the Commons (I believe he is the FOURTH generation of the Hurd family to be in the Commons in succession). All of this can't be by accident, it's well-connected people close to you who wangle it.