Everything Ulster - Election 2005

WOKE this morning to news that Tony Blair's Labour party had won the election (no surprise there) but with a much reduced majority (no big shock there either).

He got a ticking off for the way he handled the Iraq war and his majority (with only 9 mainland seats left to declare) the BBC think it'll be around the 66 mark predicted by the exit polls yesterday - so my bet for a 61-80 majority is still on!! Happy days.

[More:]

It's a pity the Conservatives didn't win a few extra marginal seats and I'm disappointed to see the Lib Dems having done so well. Oh for the benefits of being so hopeless that nobody bothers scrutinising or costing your policies!

It's funny, while only 9 results were left to come in from the mainland this morning, the count in Northern Ireland hadn't even begun yet. It kicked off at 9 this morning and I'll try and keep you up to date as the results start coming in this afternoon.

Also of interest George Galloway was elected in Bethnal Green & Bow, which he deliberately chose for it's large muslim population. Personally I'm disappointed and not just because I supported the war in Iraq, but because of Galloway's crass handling of the media and by proxy the public. He has walked out of the only 2 interviews he was involved in that I've heard about over the last week. One on ITV when he was played video footage showing him congratulating Saddam Hussein for his strong resolve (for breaking umpteen UN resolutions?) and one by Jeremy Paxman on the BBC when he was asked about his election campaign and subsequent victory. He clearly feels he doesn't have to answer questions he doesn't like and what sort of politician does that make?