In the cold harsh light of day...

I somehow think that politicians don't employ something called 'reflective practice' - the ability to sit down and take stock, reassess and redirect.

I'm afraid that as a result of the general election that my socialist values have not only resurfaced, they have bombarded me with scenarios that have made me question everything I've been thinking about over the last couple of years.

I advocated this current political arrangement. The way I saw it, the two parties would temper each other to the point where fairness would be the key word. I'm not so sure now; let me explain.

I think Clegg sold out the 28% of the population that voted for him. Many of these people voted Lib Dem in Labour seats to ensure the Tories didn't get into office. Lib Dems are essentially not Conservatives. The call of some power has clouded the Lib Dems and compromised their values and while MPs and members of the party might be jumping around like idiots; at what cost?

Everyone seems to be crowing about new politics and new opportunities it might bring, but it won't happen. What will happen is that droves of Lib Dems will defect (back) to Labour, even if the marriage works, because it will sit wrongly with their principals. Can you imagine floating Lib Dem voters looking back on this 'partnership' and thinking about the grinning, posh boys of the Bullingdon Club and the sneering, self-serving and morally corrupt Tory MPs, members and supporters? They will have realised that they sold their principals down the river for 12 pieces of silver (or 5 if you count it as ministerial positions).

I want to be positive about this coalition; but it sits wrongly with me. I feel as though I voted Conservative at the last General Election and that effectively means that my brief flirtation with the Lib Dems is over. I think I would now vote Labour even if Blair came back.

I am fed up with ignorant buffoons crawling out of the woodwork condemning Labour for 13 years of Hell on Earth and I'm thinking 'where have you people been hiding for 13 years? Can you remember what 18 years of Tory government did for this country? The fact we have no infrastructure; everything was sold off and the lesser classes were treated like shit covered trainers. The fact that the last Tory administration destroyed community, effectively causing all of the problems we have today with antisocial behaviour. People blame Blair and Brown for Iraq and Afghanistan, but people seem to forget that Thatcher started a war with Argentina just to ensure she won an election she looked destined to be destroyed at. Because of the Tory party we're having to use more and more cars, because while we still have a rail network, the idea of forking out ridiculous amounts of money to stand on a packed train to London is far less preferable than driving.

We were all going to suffer from austerity measures; but I really believe that if you earn under £50k a year, then you're going to be desperately trying to make ends meet by the time this government is forced back into an election. We're going to see indirect tax rises everywhere - the spending cuts will mean that if councils don't increase council tax then you'll see the Draconian measures of charging us for our waste - which could lead to as many demonstrations as the Poll Tax - despite the fact that waste disposal is part of the council tax and about the only front line service that you see on a regular basis. VAT will go up; yeah they might scrap the rise in NI, but they'll get it back from us rather than from employers - because, lets face it, our employers are far far more important than us - aren't they? It's important that senior management get bonuses and the ground staff get pay cuts.

The sad thing about the election is that it was a smack in the face for people like me who felt that the people were changing and were more likely to vote for something different. Looking at the results, its clear that independents don't really have a chance and even if they get into local politics, one person alone can't stop anything. Therefore, I've decided that I'm not going to run for local elections next year. The straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, happened yesterday when I was talking to a colleague who works in senior management for a service that is likely to one of the first hit by any public spending cuts. "I'm glad that the Tory's will be involved in the new government," she said.

"What about the fact that your entire department might end up being axed and you might be out of a job?"

"I never really considered that."

This is someone who earns twice as much money as I do and has masses of responsibility, but obviously very little common sense.

During the election campaign, I saw this disabled girl saying on television that she wanted Cameron to win because the Tory's might do more for the disabled people. Ha! The blind ignorance of the world is remarkable. Since the result has been announced there have been some positively heinous twats appearing on TV and radio saying every single reason why I've never voted Conservative, never will vote Conservative and have finally lost my faith in people to do the sensible thing. Thatcher made most of us self-centred selfish bastards - on May 11, 2010 her legacy was exonerated.

I will continue to fight for what is right in Northampton and the shire, but maybe with a little less enthusiasm and a lot more cynicism.