The outcome of the general election shows what a phlegmatic and conservative people the British are. They faced, after all, in the last parliament, two huge crises. The first was an economic crisis, the credit crunch. The second was a political crisis, the revelation, as a result of Freedom of Information legislation, that a large number of MPs, from all parties, had abused the expenses system. Three MPs now face criminal prosecution. Amongst the worse claims were those for second houses by MPs living less than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from London, claims for duck-houses and for cleaning a moat surrounding a stately home.
The expenses crisis caused the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, who had tried to prevent freedom of information legislation from being applied to MPs expenses; and it was widely thought to have been a defining moment in the relationship between parliament and the people. Some predicted that, in consequence, turnout in the general election would fall, while others suggested that new and even extremist parties would profit -- the Greens, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and even the neo-fascist British National Party (BNP). At the very least, so it was thought, the Liberal Democrats, who had not been in government since World War I, would benefit.
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