My take on the outcome of the 2015 UK election.

My take on the outcome of the 2015 UK election.

Substance isn't everything
The idea that you can fight a campaign solely on substance and not style is fundamentally flawed. Being able to persuade people to see your point of view isn't a nice bonus for a leader, it's a necessary quality of leadership. Humans aren't Vulcans, you can't expect people to respond only to what you're saying and not how you're saying it.

The voting system isn't broken
Smaller parties can make major breakthroughs, as the SNP have shown. Parties who fail to achieve similar results, though they may have a large share of the vote, probably need to re-assess how they're fighting the campaign. You need more than a single charismatic leader to win seats.

The voting system is broken
... but at the same time, about 16% of the electorate (Greens + UKIP) are now represented by just 2 MPs. The system is democratic but not representative - if you want a more representative system there's a danger that will make the system less democratic. Sure, you'll still be voting for politicians, but since the result will be more coalitions (which have to compromise on policies) you'll have less influence on government policy.

The left isn't doomed
It's taken the Tories 19 years to claw their way back and they're only just able to form a majority government. While Labour did badly in England, in Scotland they were replaced by a more left wing party. There is as yet no reason to suppose it will be a generational struggle to return the left to power.

TV debates aren't all that important
They did pretty much nothing for the image of any of the parties. UKIP, the Greens, and Plaid Cymru have had basically no benefit from them whatosever. The Lib Dems got no benefit from them last time and none this time. They're interesting to watch, but their influence appears to be very limited.

You can't abandon your principles and get away with it
The Lib Dems were hammered, and rightly so. Whether voters really attach all the blame to Clegg or the party as a whole remains to be seen. But it was crazy for the party to hang on to him until the bitter end - after the tuition fee scandal, it was abundantly clear to absolutely everyone that no-one believed a word he said.