Well, the Germans seem to have a hung ‘parliament’ and its two leading lights are arguing over who will be Chancellor. Angela Merkel says, ‘I am - I’ve got the biggest party’. And Gerhard Schröder trumps her with his mastery of the art of debate - ‘No, you’re not. I am’.
The only detail that stands out for me in what would otherwise be a bit of a yawn of an election was the voter turnout. It was 77 per cent. And that’s down on previous turnouts. In 2002 turnout was 79% while in 1998 it was 82%.
Whereas in the UK’s May 2005 election the turnout was 61% - representing an increase on 2001’s turnout of 59%.
The last time the UK managed a turnout like Germany’s most recent one was in 1992. That, in fact, is when apathy started to set in and turnout has declined overall ever since. Prior to 1992 turnouts were always in the 70% plus range, reaching a heady 82% in 1951.
With German citizens well aware of their country’s woes and the UK’s oblivious to theirs maybe the argument that people only vote when they’re unhappy with something is true. Not a very healthy state of affairs though, is it?
