I’ve been watching the British election results roll in from my office, and on the whole it’s been a pretty depressing day. The only chinks of gold in the heap of shit are the greens finally winning in Brighton, even without my vote, and the failure of the tories to actually properly win.
The Chinese interest in the election is non-existent. It’s mentioned on the international news, which nobody I meet even watches. Explaining the intricacies of our ridiculous system is absolutely impossible, though it doesn’t matter as nobody is interested in the arcane working of an irrelevant backward-looking island thousands of miles away.
There is a temptation to find some expat bar to discuss it all with real Englishers – then I remember who they voted for, and the desire quickly subsides.