As I write the results are coming in from the local elections in the United Kingdom.
The latest election constitutes voting for how local councils are made up, not for local Members of Parliament, and as such these exercises are used by voters to register disdain.
Not all parts of the country are involved this time around.
How one votes in local elections might differ from how one votes in national elections, but in the May 7 vote, voters increased in percentage numbers, with early results suggesting a period of factional politics is set to begin.
There is, there can be no doubt, much frustration amid the electorate. The years following the pandemic — when everyone was told we are in this together — have been difficult for many people and businesses, with pressures coming from cost-of-living crises, weighty business rates and higher interest rates and inflation to name a few.
There are other matters on voters’ minds, such as immigration and housing policy, and then there is antagonism over potholes, which newspapers gleefully search for and then report drivers’ anger.
Added to all of that is a regional divide. London and the Southeast, and then everyone else, what STR calls Regional U.K.
As the results come in, what seems likely is the U.K. is going to see more factional politics, which is not always how business likes it.
When policy cannot be instigated there will occur pragmatism and short-term thinking, which does not permit, evidently, long-term thinking and investment.
The U.K. political scene has been for 100 years dominated by two parties, Conservatives, mostly, and Labour, with the Liberal Democrats, formerly the Liberal Party, acting as the process of checks and balances.
This is set to change, with voters seemingly disillusioned by both.
Attempts to create regional political authorities to help distribute investment more equitably will see more investment decisions in the hands of local politicians, so these elections matter.
More factionalism inevitably will lead to less investment, and businesses will likely adopt wait-and-see strategies.
A strong government is one a majority of voters elect, balanced by a healthy opposition party, or two, that can smooth over rough edges and keep power to account.
I worry that will not be what is soon to happen in the U.K., although the increase in voters, at least in this election, is a sign of healthy, or engaged, public contribution.
David Attenborough turns 100
Broadcaster and conservationist Sir David Attenborough turned 100 years of age on May 8. To say he is loved in the U.K. — and in most of the world — is an understatement.
There are other broadcasters in the U.K. doing invaluable work in conservation, but they stand on the shoulders of this giant, who started making wildlife documentaries in 1954.
More than 80 years of bringing the world’s wildlife — its beauty and often its perilous situation — to the attention of a global audience.
His documentary on Indonesia and Papua New Guinea’s birds of paradise family alone would be enough to cement him in folklore.
His filmmaking has moved from an era where essentially broadcasters captured animals for zoos to a far more enlightened era (although nature is under more threat than ever) of messages of beauty and conservation backed up with the latest technology and sublime camera work.
In the wake of his lifetime’s work are TV conservationists such as Mya-Rose Craig, Megan McCubbin, Chris Packham, Iolo Williams, and, hotly tipped to be Attenborough’s successor, Hamza Yassin.
It is said that another legacy of his is to allow to flourish the desire of guests and travelers to explore the world of ecotourism, and without him there would be fewer eco-hotels, conservation entities, good-meaning folk leading safaris and wildlife tours and less funding to groups looking to make out planet better when they leave it than how they found it.
The big international hotel firms are moving into the safari- and wildlife-lodge business, and the financial landscape that allows them to do that has much to thank Attenborough for.
I have been birding for all my life, but I have yet to see a bird of paradise, but I have seen a wealth of wildlife, and that is made more enjoyable by there being a network of people and hotels that cater to ornithological and wildlife demand.
Long may he thrive, but longer, I hope, may his legacy.