It has been a dynamic 5 days since most Britons (voting is not compulsory here) went to the polls (6 May) to vote for a Prime Minister and political party. The result the following day was a 'hung' parliament where neither party had a majority.
In 2007, when I moved to the UK, almost to the day, Gordon Brown took over Tony Blair as the leader of the Labour Party. Labour has ruled here for 13 years and tonight's events brought that to an end with the announcement of David Cameron as the new British Prime Minister.
Our experience here in London has been a very interesting one. If it was not enough that the result of the election was a 'hung' parliament, we have seen daily, a country divided over who should lead. For example, my Twitter feed has mostly lamented the Conservatives (Tories). But tonight, in a cosy wine bar on Fleet Street in the City, a sudden hush came over the room. The TV behind the bar was turned up and Gordon Brown was resigning as British Prime Minister. The patrons in the bar cheered, obviously Tory supporters. Looking at Twitter on my phone, there were many sad tweets to see Brown go. This is one small example of mostly what it's been like here during the election.
So it's been a really fascinating time these past few weeks, especially being so close to the action right here in London. We have watched (thanks to the awesome coverage by the BBC) the lead up to the election (including the country's first ever Leaders Debates. We have been doing them in Oz for ages), the uncertainty that hung over the country for 5 days after, and the big news tonight of Brown's resignation and Cameron's inauguration. After weeks and weeks of campaigning and uncertainty, it's been nothing short of fascinating to watch the situation of a single nation shift in just two hours. I have no doubt that many of us will be waking up tomorrow, feeling a little bit different from today.
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