It was Twenty (Four) Years Ago Today..

Twenty-four years ago tonight, the Conservatives were celebrating their landslide election victory:

Twenty Years ago (roughly), the Conservatives were celebrating winning another landslide election victory:

Six years ago tonight, Labour swept to a second landslide victory over the Conservatives:

In politics, nothing lasts forever (except the Lib Dem period in Opposition it would seem). Success today doesn't mean success tomorrow. One day the Conservatives will win an election - another day they will lose. We are fortunate that in Britain we have a (reasonably) mature democracy in which all parties respect the will of the electorate and facilitate the transfer of power when required.

Unfortunately, in too much of the world, elections are a sham with one party or leader guaranteed success by a biased media or outright thuggery. We might take our democracy for granted sometimes and we might assume that the opportunity to vote indicates a climate in which pluralist democracy can flourish. Unfortunately, putting a cross on a ballot paper isn't always compatible with democracy.