Gallon Drunk

Poor Charles Kennedy has resigned. My old friend and quaffing partner Nicholas has some interesting thoughts on the matter.

It is good that the Liberal Democrats get rid of a leader who isn't pulling his weight, but I have a couple of worries about how things might not unfold. Some of the Lib Dems have been talking about lurching to the Right, and maybe with Kennedy gone the capitalist roaders will take their chance to act. This would suck big time, as Britain surely does not need a third rightwing party. I also suspect that the Lib Dems would not win the massive bonanza of votes the right deviationists expect. A lot of of Lib Dem MPs are winning votes through anti-Tory Bastard tactical voting, and if the Lib Dems become a little Tory party then a lot of those voters are going to stay at home or vote uselessly for Labour.

My other fear is that Kennedy's assassination will make Britain more of a no-fun nation of dry shites where only the blandest and most blemishless people can aspire to high office. Again, I'm not saying that a problem drinker whose boozing stops him from functioning should remain as leader of the Lib Dems, but that this is going to be the thin end of wedge whereby anyone who likes to drink socially in large quantities will now find themselves forever out of the political running.

My suspicion also is that if the Lib Dems are now in danger of succumbing to the Fine Gael/Conservative disease - of thinking that it is their leader's fault that more people don't vote for them, and thus of changing their leader every ten minutes when the masses fail to rally round the flag. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Why am I so chatty lately, you'll be wondering? It's because I have to write a 2,500 word long post-postivist analysis of the Iraq war by next friday, so suddenly a great many other things are looking very interesting.