Weekly |
Nice Day for an Election
U.S. national elections remind me of the World Cup: they both come around every four years whether you want them to or not.
 |
|
Captains Uwe Seeler and Bobby
Moore exchanging gifts before 1970 World Cup Quarter-Final, June 14, 1970. |
Like the World Cup's host nation, the sitting President gets a "free pass" into the tournament, although given the horrifying amount of money spent on campaigning, "free" it most definitely is not. Instead of having to go up against 31 others, though, there's only one opponent, headed up by a "captain" whose triumph against an assortment of players, all vying for the job of leading their team to victory, takes well over a year; or in some politicians' cases, a lifetime. Add on another few months for the two captains to battle it out in public and you've effectively got an election process that lasts almost two years.
In contrast, the British general elections take about as long as it does for a batch of beer to ferment: four weeks. That's not the only difference.
While the British are generally a neat and tidy society, who like things shipshape and Bristol fashion, their adherence to a set timetable when it comes to general elections goes out of the window. British Prime Ministers can call an election at any time during their five-year term. So, for instance, if the PM wakes up one morning and is greeted by a cloudless sky three days in a row, then he can call a snap general election in the hope that the voters are feeling equally buoyant and will give the sitting Party the thumbs-up. Good news on the economic front might also trigger a similar reaction.
 |
|
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
|
There are many who think this "feel-good" tactic was used by Harold Wilson, the Labour Prime Minister in the 1960s and 1970s, after England won the World Cup in 1966. True or not, there's no denying the coincidence factor when, in the summer of 1970, Edward Heather's Conservative Party surprisingly usurped Labour in the polls, just four days after England suffered a shock-and-horror defeat against West Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Labour had been up by a 7.5 point lead in the Gallup poll and the 1970 England soccer team was presumed to be better than the one which had won the Cup four years earlier. Added to which a spring heat wave had been forecast to continue well beyond polling day. All seemed right with the world and Labour appeared set to continue their 1960s swing-a-long into the next decade.
Then the wind changed.
 |
|
Tony Blair and family members
leaving Downing Street. |
After being up two goals to nil over West Germany with twenty-two minutes to go before the end of the quarter-final, Germany scored, then scored again. The game went into extra time and England lost three goals to two. Four days later, Wilson's Labour Party would mirror that loss to Heath's Conservative Party.
"Governance of a country has nothing to do with a study of its football fixtures," declared the pipe-smoking Wilson when questioned as to the coincidence. His Secretary for Education, Tony Crosland, disagreed. A major football fan, Crosland, who would go onto become Foreign Secretary when Labour regained control four years later, blamed the defeat of his party on "a mix of party complacency and the disgruntled Match of the Day millions."
The U.S. President has no such leeway when it comes to setting election dates. The date of each U.S. national election is set in stone, taking place every four years on the first Tuesday in November. The U.S. President is also limited to serving two four-year terms, a maximum of eight years, unlike British PMs, whose sell-by date is open-ended.
 |
|
7000 "Port-a-Potties" line the
Mall in Washington, DC in preparation for Barack Obama's first Inauguration Ceremony in 2009. |
In the event that a new Prime Minister is elected in the UK, they don't waste any time in changing the locks. The handover is almost immediate. Within hours of the election result, the ousted PM leaves 10 Downing Street and his successor enters within the hour. No pomp. No ceremony. And definitely no Port-a-Potties.
Here, on the other hand, there are all three and then some. The transition period between the election of a new president and that person's inauguration is two and half months. The inaugural festivities include parties, parades, and prayer services. Add in the costs of security and Port-a-Potty rentals and it amounts to over $40 million, give or take a few million. The swearing-in ceremony alone costs over a million dollars.
 |
|
Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and
Helen Mirren as HM Queen Elizabeth II reenact the Kissing of the Hands. |
Across the pond things are a lot more low-key. The newly elected Prime Minister-to-be is invited to the Palace, where the Queen formally asks whether he or she will form a Government. The meeting is described as "an invitation to kiss hands," although the hand-kissing part nowadays doesn't take place until the subsequent meeting of the Privy Council, when the new minister is formally appointed. Instead, the Premier nods his or her agreement, swears he will "well and truly serve Her Majesty," and they both settle down for a nice cup of tea. "One lump or two, ma'am?"
QuickLinks:
Join Afternoon Tea
Do Tell
Contact Us
