It was strange watching my country re-elect its government while I sat at work on the other side of the world watching the results roll in over the Internet. I didn’t want to vote having been out of the country for the last seven months and in case didn’t fancy any of the parties. I can only really remember the previous couple of elections well but, from an early age, an election has always to me a constant media bombardment from politicians and their party spin machines. Largely avoiding the build-up, I was thankfully spared the propaganda and personality contests. The end result was basically a hilariously one-sided contest won by an unspectacular government completely unthreatened by its closest rival. It wasn’t exactly a glowing endorsement for democracy and now Britain’s got four more years of Labour government. Here’s hoping there’s at least one viable alternative next time round.

Best quotation of the day, though, was from an American observer on MetaFilter:

Ha Ha Ha, silly Brits! Your electoral system is charmingly quaint! Here in AMERICA, we have months of recounts to squeeze every last drop of democracy out of the ballots, ensuring that no voice goes unheard. Ha!