Anyone over the age of 40 can scarcely help comparing this election, or the state of our two main parties, with those of the past. Though in 2024 it seems a choice between dumb and dumber (or grey and greyer), this wasn’t always the case.
The government of Blair, Brown, Prescott and Cook seem like a supergroup compared to the current front bench
The first election I could vote in was in 1992, and back then there was a clear difference. Yes, Labour, under Neil Kinnock, had kicked out many of the hard left and moved to the centre-ground, but it was more a question of style. The Tories wore velvet-collared covert coats and Turnbull and Asser ties, got caught in massage parlours, and closed hospitals. They often had, after 13 years in government, a grotesque air of droit de seigneur about them (think David Mellor or Michael Portillo at his worst).
Labour sported ill-fitting light grey suits, looked as if they stank of Embassy cigarettes and Draught Bass, banged on a lot about ‘caring’ (often in Celtic accents) and were supported by people like Stephen Fry and that nice Prunella Scales and Tim West.
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