Some of us, with long memories remember the excitement of the 1964 general election when Harold Wilson gained a wafer thin majority over the Conservatives led by Sir Alex Douglas Home. Labour, we were informed, was going to transform the nation though North Sea oil revenues and the white heat of technology.
The 1970s saw a see-saw between the Tories led by Edward Heath and Labour led by Harold Wilson until his unexpected resignation. James Callaghan led the country through the 'Winter of Discontent' and then was replaced Margaret Thatcher. Her arrival was greeted with a mixture of hysteria and fear, but she departed tearfully when deposed by her own party. Her replacement, John Major, won an election but then was driven out by a combination of a tired government, sleaze and splits within the Tory Party.
Major's replacement was New labour led by Tony Blair. Eventually Blair suffered the same fate as Margaret Thatcher, driven out of office by his own party. Blair's replacement, Gordon Brown, suffered the fate of John Major.
A pattern emerges. Parties take power which huge optimism and often massive majorities in Parliament, but time, divisive issues and sheer political exhaustion take their toll. The party in power runs out of energy. Will the parties in the new coalition go the same way? I expect so.
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