Seeing as it’s Election Day let’s get political, don’t worry not too political – I’m not going to urge you to vote for a particular party or berate you if you’re vocal about who got your vote, however last month I was invited to an exclusive Mumsnet Q&A with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and what better day than election day to tell you about what I learnt.
The room was made up with a cross section of Mumsnetters from the length and breadth of the country and each and everyone of us had an idea of our top three questions we wanted to ask. Some of the questions had been prepared in advance and there were small bursts of quick fire rounds, which were supposed to give Clegg the chance to dazzle us with his one-word answers… Let’s just get it out there: he along with all politicians is incapable of giving one worded answers never mind a simple yes or no!
The Q&A lasted just under an hour and there were lots of questions asked with lots of answers offered by Nick Clegg, and not all the responses were either welcomed or agreed with.
Policies aside, I felt that Nick Clegg made a few key points. When asked what he learnt from the 2010 general election he said that politics had become and are still very much plural and diverse, meaning coalition governments are here to stay (let’s see if he’s right in the morning!) and I think that’s one of the strongest messages to come out of this – if coalitions are the government of our times then surely we have to find a model that works for our country? The egos of each party never mind individual politicians surely cannot be allowed to play such a big role as they have for the last five years.
With coalitions comes the inevitability of compromise, and no one party will willingly give up keep manifesto pledges, but instead of the machete style hacking of party policies to create the Frankenstein of governments; surely it is better for us to acquaint ourselves with the art of coalition-ing, creating etiquette on how forming, managing and sometimes most importantly the distancing in the dying months of a coalition will help the country get the best from this.
Coalitions are like blended families; they’re not what you learn about at school, and if we’re being brutally honest, it’s never what you’d wished for. However they are the reality of 2015 in Britain and just like families which come in all shapes and sizes as do our governments; it’s not what you’re given that counts but what you do with it.
Who knows, only time and a fair few governments will tell.
