Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Post election blues?

by Shaun

As I write this, we're still in a strange political limbo, waiting for our politicians to work out an agreement to govern the country. No doubt a deal is imminent, but it will be fascinating to see how things pan out in the coming weeks and months, as avowed political enemies are transformed overnight into political bedfellows (...or not!).

Like many others, I watched the election night coverage and stayed up until 6am waiting to find out who won - and we're still waiting...! Although it took me about two days to recover from my all night session, at least my involvement in the election was then over, unlike the politicians wrangling to do the post election deal - they've probably forgotten what a good night's sleep is!

In what was initially billed as the first internet election, but turned out to be the UK's first proper TV election (only about 50 years late!), from a PR point of view I was surprised how little impact all the media coverage had in the end. From Cleggmania to bigot-gate it ultimately seemed to have little impact on the result. "Great entertainment but meaningless" might sum it up - a cross between the X Factor and Coronation Street. This is a shame, as I still think a lot of people feel disenfranchised from politics and much more needs to be done to restore trust in and respect for our elected representatives.

This is the first general election I can remember where none of the main parties really got the result they wanted - the Conservatives failed to secure their majority, the Lib Dem surge didn't materialise and Labour lost its mandate to govern. But then, in some ways, perhaps this is the best result all round. Maybe confrontation will finally give way to consensus and our politicians can come up with the best policies in the interest of the whole country - not just their supporters.

During the campaign, Ethos public relations invited the local candidates of the three main political parties to contribute a guest blog to our website, outlining their policies that would affect small businesses and the creative industries in the North West. Sadly, none of them took us up on the offer. I'm sure they were much too busy, but you'd have thought they might have wanted to promote their policies. Maybe if we were located in a marginal constituency, things would have been different?

The result of the election opens the door for co-operation and collaboration amongst the parties, and as a co-operative organisation ourselves, we certainly recognise the benefits of working together. We hope the politicians can put aside their differences and work with each other to establish an effective, stable government at this important time, in the interests of everyone in the UK.

Image: Adam Hickmott / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted at 2:31pm on 10^th May 2010