That’s life!

So Esther Rantzen’s bid to become the Member of Parliament for Luton South ended in 1,872 votes and a lost deposit.

I said all along that she had no chance of winning. Yet, I am surprised at how badly she did. I was expecting her to get a slightly higher vote than the one she ended up with.

The way media reported on her involvement in this election, the amount of attention they lavished on her and the ridiculous claims made about her chances, was extraordinary. It should leave those journalists involved feeling foolish and chastened. Although I doubt that it actually will.

Between them the five independents standing in Luton South got just 6.6% of the vote. The one I feel most sorry for is Joe Hall who fought a clever and interesting campaign and deserved more than the 264 votes that he got.

In fact it was a very bad night for independents across the country, especially with Dr Richard Taylor’s loss of Wyre Forest. Let’s be clear politics is a team game. Political parties are an essential component of any democratic system. What matters in our politicians is not independence from party – but independence of mind.

I am glad the voters of Luton South had the good sense to see through the superficial appeal of a celebrity candidate. Whether they showed good sense in the way they voted for three main parties I will deal with in another post.

This content was originally posted on my old Strange Thoughts blog.