There was a time – not so long ago – when you knew there was an election in the air because house and flat windows were suddenly adorned with posters – red, blue and yellow – telling the passer-by that this house was voting Labour/Conservative/Liberal (as was).
But here we are amidst the ‘most exciting election campaign ever’ and there’s not a window poster to be seen. I live in a marginal constituency, and I work in another, and despite my best efforts to date, I have seen none.
It’s a pity; not just because the posters added to the general excitement (and made for very useful TV pictures to illustrate which party might be winning on the doorstep)) but because it was always fascinating to discover that that slightly stuck-up lady down the road was in fact a socialist and that the nice bloke on the other side of the road was a Tory.
It was also great for morale if you were a party worker, either delivering leaflets or knocking on doors, to see a street festooned with window posters advertising your candidate.
But those days appear to have gone. It’s been a gradual trend over the past few elections which now seems to have reached some sort of apotheosis.
But why? Is it because we have all migrated online and we’re still busy putting up posters but these are now done online on Twitter Facebook or elsewhere?
Or is it because we are all now so privatised, and perhaps wary, and think it’s better to keep our political opinions to ourselves?
Or is it because, despite the excitement of the politicians, pundits and activists – this election has left the general population unmoved? And could it be that I speak to soon, that after the leaders’ debates campaign fever will really take a grip and our streets will once more become a sea of red, blue, yellow, green and purple?
Maybe, or maybe not; and if it’s the latter it’s a tad worrying. For if this campaign, clearly the most unpredictable in living memory, doesn’t stir the blood of the average voter, then political disillusionment is even more profound than any of us might have thought and our democracy is in deep trouble.
So come on, it’s time to come out, open that envelope from your party of choice and show the world your political colours.
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