Norwich by-election

The Norwich by-election took place yesterday and the counting started this morning. I suppose it is more civilised to count when people are awake but I hope this is not a general trend as I do enjoy staying up all night. This by-election was called because of the resignation of the Labour MP Ian Gibson. He was caught up in the expenses scandal even though he was not the worst culprit by far. In fact many residents have stated that they would have supported Mr Gibson if he had stood as an independent.

The problem that caused his resignation was the expenses scandal but he was deselected by the Labour Party in London not by the constituency party. It was an embarassing show of centralised control because many commentators feel he would have won if he had stood. As it stands the exit polls say it is a Conservative victory.

I wrote this in a blog some time ago but I am still of the opinion that I want the scandal to blow over. Everyone thinks that MPs are lazy cheats. The truth is much more likely to be that they are hard-working and honest. Moreover the extreme parties have taken advantage of this situation and there is no guarantee that the extremists are more honest. One candidate in this by-election is called Craig Murray standing for the "Put an Honest Man into Parliament" Party. I don't say this in an angry way but how dare he use this title? Is Mr Murray the man who has done nothing wrong? I think politicians have learned their lessons and change is certain.

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