The first time I ever voted it was for Scottish Devolution in 1979. A majority of those who voted (51.6%) said "yes". But that meant "no" because the devolution Bill stated that 40% of the electorate had to say yes, which would have required something like two-thirds of those who voted saying "yes". It was the start of a miserable pattern of voting disappointment (see John O'Farrell's 'Things Can Only Get Better' for an amusingly miserable memoir of the period).

My best ever voting experience was when Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London (4 May 2000). On my way to work I cycled into the polling station (yes, they let me cycle into the polling station), voted for Ken and gave my other vote to the Greens, knowing not only that Ken was going to win but also that the Green vote would actually have some effect (there are now three Greens on the Greater London Assembly, out of a total of 25 seats). Oh, and the sun was shining.

On Thursday, it's local election day in London. I'm wondering if the Le Pen effect will lead to a larger than usual turnout, and I'm wondering whether to vote for the Labour candidates or not. One of them, Josie Irwin, has to get one of my votes as she has actually done something for local folk here - she took an active part in saving our local library. But you couldn't rave about the Labour performance more generally, could you? On the other hand, what are the chances of a monster raving tory getting in if we all get complacent?

B-)

PS. We have a Liberal Democrat candidate called Mark Thatcher - should I be worried?