"Change": The Power of Public Opinion - Why apparent 'policy' is shaped by the mood of the people, while the party politics stay very much the same.

Politicians aren't terribly good at interpreting public opinion and using it to their advantage, one might think. We all have this conception of politicians as the people most out of touch with normal people and their needs. We are wrong of course, that category is reserved for Scientologists, who are about as out of touch with reality as one could hope to get. Politicians can most definitley smell the general mood of the public, or at least their advisors can. This can be seen most obviously recently in the form of "change".

If one takes a glance at the Conservative Party website (don't do this in your own home obviously, it can seriously damage your views) one can see in massive letters in the top right hand corner the words "Vote for Change". One might assume this is only hint in the terms of "change of government, nudgenudge winkwink say no more", but you'd only be partially right. The thing is that the whole world, at least the West, is enthralled by the prospect of change. Well the poor, the downtrodden, the unemployed and their sympathisers are at least, the richer members of society obviously are less supportive. Capitalism has served them all rather well for the last few decades and they are unlikely to be in favour of altering it to make it more "fair". But Barrack Obama definitley has brought about a "wind of change" if you like. Everyone likes the idea, especially the Tories. "Change" is brilliant if it only entails ousting the beleagured Labour government, not so much if it involves closing the wealth gap, taxing the highest earners, finding jobs for the so called "unskilled" workforce or, in summarising terms, making society more equal.

The word change is ambiguous in itself. "Vote for change" is all very well, and if you vote for the Tories that is what you are voting for, a change in government. But it doesn't indicate that the change will be for the better or for the worse. It doesn't say "Vote for change because we can help you!" or more accurately "because we can help you! But not you, you earn less than 30,000 a year and don't claim residence of the Cayman Islands for tax purposes." The tories assume that change will automatically be interpreted as a good thing, and they're right in general. People are pretty pissed off right now and are keen for change, so anyone promising change is clearly offering us a better deal, right? Well you make up you're own mind, I finished imposing my political leanings a while ago, but I would advise you never to vote for anyone (even the Green Party =P) on the basis of slogans.

So we know why the Conservatives love the idea of change right now, but isn't that quite a contradiction in terms. Let's pull out the dictionary for this one. *Spends five minutes looking for the dictionary, fails then proceeds to swear to himself. Eventually ends up borrowing his mother's* The definition as it stands of a "conservative" is a person averse to rapid change and cautious towards reform. So why are the Conservative Party so keen on something that is so contradictory to their core views? It is because "Change" and change are two different things. The Tories don't want to change the financial regulation system, or change all those things which cause such social injustice and wealth gaps, they want to "change" to Britain in terms of a change of Government. So when you vote for a 'change', you vote for a preservation of the old injustices and inequalities of our society. Is that really change? It's definitley short-change if you're unemployed or below the average wage.

But enough picking apart the Conservatives empty slogans. All political slogans are pretty much empty, especially with the prospect of winning an election or the fear of losing one. One should note that Gordon Brown never talks much about change. He's got a lot to say about reform though. Reform indicates an alteration of political systems, rather than a change in the seats of power. Change on the other hand has a more revolutionary tone to it (note that this is the first and possibly last time I will accuse the tories of promoting "revolution"). When one is afear for their power, it is never wise to mention change. When one spends more than ten years in power, change becomes an ever more irritating word for a government. And of course, with Barrack Obama blowing the trumpet of change across the globe as fervently as he can, you can't really blame the Tories for striking up the same tune. After all, one is not in politics to keep losing elections, unless of course you're the Liberal Democrats.

"Change" is a big word. It can inspire a nation to rise up, but more often than not it proves to be a fickle friend. Whether Labour wins or loses the next election is irrelevant. Change is slowly coming, the "change we need". However cliché it sounds we do need change in the fight for equality in our brave new world. And it will sweep us forward, as it has done throughout history. And the Tories' dreams of "change" will doubtless do little to hinder it.