London votes Conservative in the mayoral elections.
Thoughts right now. A quote from Blackadder Goes Forth.
CAPTAIN DARLING: Made a note in my diary today. Simply says: “Bugger”.
***
From Patrick Keiller’s 1992 film London, which captures the reeling effect of the Tory success in the General Election:
NARRATOR: It is difficult to recall the shock with which we realised our alienation from the events that were taking place in front of us. Robinson’s first reaction was one of spleen. There were, he said, no mitigating circumstances. The press, the voting system, the impropriety of Tory party funding; none of these could explain away the fact that the middle class in England had continued to vote Conservative because in their miserable hearts they still believed that it was in their interest to do so.
Here’s the full clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v84byeueCBI
I’ve just taught myself how to make video files from DVDs, purely in order to put this Patrick Keiller clip online. Funny how anger can galvanise you into learning a new skill.
Similarly, one thinks of all the wonderful art and music generated as a reaction against the Tories in the 80s. So I have to link to a suitable Style Council song, really.
Here we go. This clip is making me cry. It’s TSC in 1988, performing the gorgeous ‘The Changing Of The Guard’. At this point, Red Wedge has failed, Mrs Thatcher’s been re-elected for a third term, and Mr Weller himself has been filed away as no longer in touch with the pop scene. What else can he do but bleach his hair, don a nice suit, and sing a wonderful anti-rock, string-laden waltz about loss and the feeling of being lost?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F3PzUCn59Y
