Posted by Iain Martin
“A new day has dawned, has it not…” That’s what Tony Blair said in his speech in the early hours on the South Bank to his intoxicated party as it celebrated a historic win in May 1997. And how right he was, a new day had dawned. May 1 was over and May 2 was underway.
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- Associated Press
What a party it was. Labour had booked the Royal Festival Hall to toast its success when the polls closed. To the sound of “Things Can Only Get Better,” Labour partied. At the front of a crowd of invited activists and excited guests, Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson indulged in some particularly bad “dad” style dancing. Blair was treated like a conquering hero when he arrived from his constituency in Sedgefield and then made that speech.
But I’m told the Tories have no plans to hold an election night party this year. They want to avoid looking hubristic and intend to play it incredibly low-key. They could also look silly if they book a party somewhere swish and then lose — or end up in a hung parliament. Also, with it looking likely that many of the counts will not take place until the morning after the election, the result may become clear only on Friday afternoon. A drunken thrash in the early hours would look daft in those circumstances.
Already others are making plans for election night parties — and there’ll be the usual anticlimax snore-athons in London hosted by the broadcasters for invited guests — but the Tories themselves do not plan a party.