Here's a round-up of my favourite moments in British politics, ranging from the hilarious to the most memorable parts our political history, and all in my short lifetime!
Prescott's Punch.
Not exactly a ground-breaking moment, more of an embarrassment really, but we might as well start off light-hearted!
An utterly humiliating way for Labour to launch their election manifesto back in 2001, John Prescott lashed out at a protester who threw an egg at him. The protester, Craig Evans a contractor from Denbigh, got way more than he bargained for when what seemed like a humorous prank, turned into a scuffle in front of the country's media. A party spokesman said that Mr Prescott "defended himself from the attack, as anybody would in the circumstances". Yeah OK then.
The incident of course did nothing for Prescott's career, and he resigned as Deputy Prime Minister in 2007. You can find him nowadays appearing in adverts for moneysupermarket.com. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Education, education, education.
Undeniably one of the most iconic speeches made by a British politician. This was the point that the country realised that Labour were in fact serious contenders in the General Election of 1997. A fantastic way to convey what New Labour was all about and really drive the message home. Personally, I think this was a key factor in Labour winning the election, aside from the massive change in alliances from The Sun newspaper.
It's one that stays in my mind, I think particularly because it's in my lifetime and it's something that's still parodied now. One that springs to mind is an episode of Channel 4's Campus which aired a couple of weeks ago called 'Publication! Publication! Publication!'. Bravo Alastair Campbell!
The Sun
Now, this one is not so much a moment, but a series of genius moments from The Sun Newspaper. I find it fascinating that a newspaper can have so much influence on our political system. Now, I'm not a reader of The Sun. I think it's trashy. Which it is, but you can't deny its impact on past General Elections. Here's a series of my favourite and most influential Sun front pages.
The Coalition
I don't think I could get away with making this page and not mention the coalition government. I'm quite lucky that in my 21 years I've experienced possibly every sort of mainstream political concept. Born in a Tory government, raised by The Labour Party and now living in the coalition.
A Conservative/Lib Dem government is pretty much the last thing this country needs! Judging by the past year it seems they can't agree on anything. Tuition fees, the AV Referendum, The NHS.... the list goes on!
The person whose lost out most in the coalition though is poor old Nick Clegg. David Cameron's fine. The Conservatives are supposed to be evil. He can afford to do it. Think back to last year when we had fresh faced Nick lighting up our televisions on the political debates. I wonder how many would say "I agree with Nick" now?
