May the best party win

MAY THE BEST PARTY WIN!

As you may know, in a few weeks time we here in the UK will be deciding on which political party will be forming the next Government. Although we may be eligible to vote, not all of us choose to do so. I, for instance, have not voted in a general election for a number of times now. I should feel ashamed really as we are lucky to be in a country where we have freedom of choice unlike many countries that don't. However, I am not alone in thinking that it is very difficult to decide which party to vote for. Many people years ago were either staunch Labour or Conservative voters with a few Liberals thrown in.

At one time we had quite a strong class system here. Generally speaking we had 'The Working Class' which mainly consisted of those who worked in the manual industries like coal mining, factories, farm labourers and shopkeepers. Then there was the 'Middle Class' who would be professional people like doctors, dentists, bankers, solicitors etc. The 'Upper Class' were usually those that had been born into the aristocracy or had inherited money from their forefathers. Most of us knew which class we fell into and so with the three main parties being Labour, supported by the 'Working Class'; Liberal, supported by the 'Middle Class' and Conservative, supported by the 'Upper Class', the choices were simple.

Nowadays it isn't quite as easy as that. The class system still exists to a certain extent although the parties involved deny this. There is, however, a very fine line dividing them. Lots of people who would once have been classified as working class now consider themselves to be middle class. Some of those that were perceived at one time to be upper class like to think that they are no longer so. They feel embarassed in this day and age to be thought of as superior even though their ancestors may once have been Lords! Does all this sound complicated? Well it is. That is why it is anyone's guess as to who will win the election. We are as a nation capricious and are likely to change our minds at the last minute depending upon who we last saw give a good speech!

Story by Barbara Scott