UK Politics / Ari Last / 12 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Amidst the widespread, global outpouring of exhilaration, excitement and anticipation surrounding the election of Barack Obama to the White House, the burning question on the tip of most people's tongue is "what's in it for me?"

In the UK especially, the short term and long term implications of Obama's rise to power are being contemplated and nowhere more so then in the corridors of power alongside London's River Thames.

The American people's desire for change and their ecstasy upon it being granted to them would not have gone unnoticed amongst the UK electorate, who like their transatlantic neighbours believe that many years under a government riddled with episodes of sleaze, spin and incompetence, has led a great nation onto the brink of disrepair.

David Cameron and his Tory minions will no doubt be hoping that the USA's desperation for change proves contagious, yet before the leader of the opposition starts proclaiming "Yes We Can" to the British public, he should be cautious, since his counterpart Gordon Brown is now in a position from which great advantage can be gained.

They say that you can judge a person on the friends they keep. Prior to Obama being elected, Brown and New Labour were saddled with the special friendship they and their previous leader had consolidated with the grossly unpopular administration of George W Bush. Now, with a new partner in place, Britain's under fire PM can begin setting up a very public allegiance with the world's most popular man, and this in turn could see his own status levels surge.

Dovetailing President Obama is set to become a New Labour past time in the coming months, yet more productive to Gordon Brown then simply mirroring and agreeing with the sentiments of Obama would be him taking advantage of, and the credit for, any progress on the Economic or Foreign Affair fronts that the Hawaiian manages to engineer.

Labour, under the stewardship of Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell were the pass masters of taking credit for things they didn't actually do and then milking any praise they received for these phantom achievements.

If Obama's appointment causes a boost in the economy or an easing of the situation in Iraq, expect the consequences to trickle into the UK and expect messes Brown and Darling to ask us all to say thank you.

The Labour Party are ailing and Gordon Brown's dream of enjoying the same sort of longevity enjoyed by his predecessor seems to be dying, yet Obama's winds of change could inject new life into his cause.

This will worry David Cameron who will fear the thought of a struggling opposition party gaining strength from external events thousands of miles away. The Conservatives may begin pummelling the British public with a message of change in the hope of experiencing the same sort of joy from a ploy so successfully used by the Democrats in the United States, yet voters will remain sceptical over the Tories ability or even willingness to provide any sort of diversion from the status quo.

For too long now the major political parties in the UK have been too similar. While Obama offered a distinctive, alternative option to what the American people already had, there is little to suggest that a Conservative government would offer something different then the proposal of their opponents which is already on the table.

As of this moment the Conservatives are clear favourites to win the next General Election on Betfair with their odds currently sitting at [1.36] yet events across the Atlantic may well throw a spanner into David Cameron's works. If utilized correctly, an "Obama Bounce" could do wonders for Labour's image in the coming months and this could see their current price of [3.75] look like a bargain as it begins to tighten.