First and foremost, I’m worried about how close the Tories are to an overall majority. I know they won’t get it alone now, not unless the next 42 seats are ridiculous, and that is some comfort, but they still don’t deserve it and their views, principles and policies still don’t even come close to matching the views of the majority in the country. I also have a strange pervasive dread of hearing the words “Prime Minister David Cameron”, and I don’t think it’ll wear any better with time.

I’m very pleased for Caroline Lucas of the Greens taking their first ever seat, despite the fact that it meant a Labour loss. On the flip side, I’m gutted for the Lib Dems, who deserved to do a great deal better – I was expecting somewhere in the region of 100-125 seats, and for far more of them to be taken from the Tories, neither of which seemed to happen.

Like almost everyone, as far as I can see, I’m pleased and relieved that Nick Griffin and his Nazi ilk didn’t win a single seat, though it’s really quite depressing that there are over half a million racist morons who voted for them nationwide… and that under PR, which I am still all in favour of (preferably via STV, including RON in the absence of a perfect system), they would probably have won more than one seat – a real worry, though obviously still no reason to continue propping up FPTP

Naturally I’ll be keeping a close eye on everything with great interest…

The recent elections made me completely furious… I’m sure many many other people felt the same. Yes, it was a washout for Labour, which is always bad, but what made my blood boil was the BNP winning two seats in the European Parliament, largely because so few people could be bothered to take a two minute walk to their polling station and cross a box. Yes, there’s more to it than that, and a big chunk of the blame lies at the feet of scorn worthy ex-ministers for resigning in the days leading up to polling day, and the ongoing expenses scandal.

At the end of the day though, every single British, European or Commonwealth adult citizen in this country is responsible for casting their own vote. I’m disgusted that as someone who actually used their vote last week, I’m in a minority of just over a third of the electorate- UK turnout was only 34.48%.

I think the expenses scandal has been ridiculous, just like pretty much everyone. The next time I hear a politician whine “but it was within the rules…” I think I might scream. Yes, the rules were wrong, but I would hope the politicians I support and help return to Westminster would be bright enough to realise that without a month-long Telegraph exposé. We don’t want representatives who work systems to their own advantage as much as possible because it’s in the rules, we want MPs who are upstanding, responsible role models to society – they should have integrity, and at least try to be grounded in the real world.

Expenses are a necessary part of a fair political system, including second home allowances, and the Telegraph didn’t half ham up some of the claims, with their tendency to hone in on small parts of large claims, present them in isolation, and then say “what a scoundrel, couldn’t he even buy his own new toilet seat”. I don’t subscribe to an MPs halls of residence (I mean really, just think of the security risk for half a second) but MPs should know to be reasonable in their claims.

As for all this talk of Labour leadership elections, I’m glad the PLP got a grip. It was incredible to see a few self-serving members and even ministers try to ride the media’s storm to oust Brown, as if the expenses scandal were his fault, when the fascists are being returned to Brussels due to voter apathy. It’s a time for pulling together, ideally of all the moderate parties, to say no to the extremism in our midst, not for parties to be splitting down the middle.

All in all, a pretty awful week for UK and EU politics. I’m looking forward to seeing some improvements over the coming months.

The picture at the top was what I sent to Hope not Hate‘s anti-BNP campaign. It’s a petition which says NOT IN MY NAME. The petition will be handed into the European Parliament on the day that BNP leader Nick Griffin takes his seat. Sign the petition – let’s show the rest of the EU what we think of the racist BNP.

I’m ridiculously proud to say that I can sort-of, accurately-ish, play the bass line to Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. Go me! I know it’s ridiculously easy (clearly a song made for n00bs), but even though I’ve owned the guitar for about 6 years, I’m very proud of that *sets himself up for a mocking*

Anywho, enough of that. Last weekend was my housewarming party… only small (7 of us) but it was fantastic – it was nice to be able to be able to have a proper sit down meal with every one (mm, yummy lamb), even if a couple of us were sitting on speakers due to lack of chairs… thank you to everyone who came, it was fabulous to see you all, and my house is feeling metaphorically, if not actually, warm.

Yesterday, we made good use of our matching National Trust memberships (only £21 if you’re under 26, join up, live the dream!) to visit Housesteads Fort on Hadrian’s Wall… it was very cold, though there wasn’t any snow left, which was probably a good thing. I’d never been to the wall before, it was surprising how much was still there really. I still found it  a little difficult to imagine how big it would have been, because it doesn’t look that much more imposing than the surrounding dry stone walls, but the museum bit gave lots of information that made it pretty clear that it was a formidable structure after all – as much because of the defensive ditches and peaks on either side of the wall as of the stone structure itself. Go and see it if you get the chance – Rome’s solution to the ungovernable people!

We had a 20% off day at work recently – while these are common in some retailers, M&S doesn’t usually go in for store-wide discounting as much as the competition. The last time we had a “Spectacular Day” was four years ago, so the store was absolutely rammed with people – mostly on GM, but the deal extended to wine too which meant foods was very busy as well – to the point where ten people filling the section all day couldn’t keep it full (the maximum we could get away with without crowding out customers!) It meant a very long shift for me and the other managers, but I did enjoy it. That was my first real taste of retail at Peak, so it’s a good sign.

A number of others from my intake of grads have recently left the business, where I’m really just beginning to enjoy it properly. I think a lot of that is because I’m happier being up here, and because my competitive nature is kicking in a bit more… I’m not sure how much I need to reign it in, but I’m getting good reviews at the moment, which is nice

I watched the government’s PBR this afternoon. All very interesting, and delivered masterfully by Mr. Darling. I think Osborne came on much too strongly, especially as the Tories don’t have any suggestions for what to do, but we’ll see how the media portrays their debate in the morning.

In terms of the policy, it’s a shame that VAT is effectively being kept on fuel, although with prices dropping anyway I suppose it’s not a big problem. I like the 15% VAT policy generally, especially the speed of implementation, but I’m disappointed that the changes won’t go further in reforming the tax system overall.

That said, without winning a general election with reforms as a manifesto, we probably shouldn’t go for a wholesale overhaul of taxation, however badly it is needed. I do think, though, that the reform of taxation after 2010 is the way to pay for the immediate tax cuts: a 50-60% rate for those earning over £100k, implementing a local income tax to replace the ridiculous council tax, and a freeze or cut of the 20% standard rate. I’m not sure whether the current 40% higher rate should change, but I’m inclined to think that any movement either way should be very modest.

That’s enough for now, I think.

Here’s the numbers: of the 531 English MPs, 286 are currently Labour, 193 Conservative, 49 Liberal Democrat, and 3 of other affiliation/independent. This equates to Labour holding 53.86% of English seats in Westminster; not a large majority, but only slightly smaller than their majority of 55.2% when counting all UK constituencies.

It’s a convenient assumption, with the number of Scottish ministers we have, that Labour’s majority in Westminster only works because of the Scottish constituencies, but at the end of the day that just isn’t true. We also need to remember the fact that there are 646 UK constituencies, meaning that 82.2% of constituencies are English, making it logically impossible for England to be dictated to even by Scotland, Wales, and NI together, let alone just one of the three other nations.

Figures sourced from analysis of election results on wikipedia.com

So, I’m all done, and now fully unemployed and job hunting (and signing on next week…). There is some good news though; I have an interview at UCL on Tuesday, and a possible other interview with a smaller company before too long. It’s just getting to that time when a load of my applications are shortlisting (the UCL one was one of the first I applied to in this slew), so with any luck I’ll get a few more emails soon.

So, wish me luck, and I hope you’re all OK.

One thing I didn’t like was the small focus on the EU. (nb: I firmly believe that we need to be more involved in Europe, not constantly seeking opt outs, and making the Union all we can make it. I think concern over tradition and our currency is largely unfounded and we shouldn’t let it get in the way of our future.)  We could have done with more talk over Europe. It wasn’t going to happen in something this high profile, of course, but I wish it would.

Anyway, a great speech, really glad to have seen it. To quote someone from the LP message boards: “In Gord we trust”!

Oh-eight-forty-one Southwest trains service to Bournemouth. Was delayed by 20 minutes, then somehow on time again. Arrived at ten-forty-five, as scheduled.

£3.30 Taxi to actually very respectable Ramada Encore hotel where I’m staying, courtesy of the party. They didn’t know I was staying there, but apparently they do now, so I should have somewhere to sleep: win!

Arrived at late accreditation (my pass application got lost first time around) to collect my pass. This should have been very simple, but apparently mine wasn’t working properly so I had to wait. For two and a half hours. Met several interesting people, and wandered off to get some food. Heaven knows why reprinting a pass takes that long, but never mind.

Wandered up to the Highcliff Hotel, in the secure zone, where I’m working. A little surreal bumping into secretaries of state left right and centre (given how few of them there are, it’s surprising how much this happens.) I saw Alistair Darling at the station, Ruth Kelly held the door for me on the way in to the hotel, and walked down to the conference centre with Jacqui Smith. All very odd.

I spent most of the day running up and down the hill chasing after video questions for ministers, and running random errands. I missed our interview of Alistair D, which was a shame, but there’ll be plenty more to do through the week.

Anyway, I’m in the office now for a while, doing bits and bobs with videos and the website. I’ll be off in search of a lucky fringe event to feed me soon, and then it’ll be time for all the free lash. It’s all about getting in to that conference groove!

Apparently there isn’t usually much to do at this time of year, because it’s very politician-driven work, but that does beg the question of why they would take me at this time of year. I didn’t raise that, and I didn’t raise my concerns about over-cautiousness with letting me correspond with people. They currently check everything I write to outside organisations and internal people, which is a little demoralising – I’ve plenty of experience dealing with that kind of thing, I’m sure I could be trusted to email non-political support organisations without too many problems.

There is of course the dilemma that I’m sure all Labourites in my place have to come to terms with: that the party they believe in, for policies like the minimum wage, doesn’t live up to their own preachings, and that so few political internships are paid minimum wage, or even all expenses (I’m spending £1.50 of my own money on travel each day, and £2-2.50 on lunch, which isn’t much, but that’s living close to London on no wages, so it’s pretty difficult – another reason why I’m so annoyed about recent boredom.)

Money isn’t actually a motivator to me: it helps when I’m doing something boring, but all it really does is help me get up and go to it again, with dread, each day. I’m motivated by interesting work, achievement (whether it’s recognised or not doesn’t matter too much) and personal development of a meaningful kind. Money is a necessity,  and it’s nice to have a bit more than I need, but money in itself doesn’t particularly motivate me to work harder, longer, or better.

The other thing that motivates me is working for something I believe in. That obviously takes a hit when the Labour party won’t pay the minimum wage they so rightly introduced. I mean, I know the parties are all broke, but would budgeting for a few interns (well under £50k a year, given how few there are in head office right now) really break the bank?

Anyway, with any luck I should start feeling like I’m doing something useful, and feeling a little less underused and undervalued over the next few weeks: watch this space