Nick Pickles’s blog

I can’t imagine what the future students of politics will make of the last week. In fact, I’m not sure if those currently craming for A-level and degree exams arent desperately trying to work in the events of the past week into their wider studies. 

i think it’s fair to say we are in entirely unchartered waters - two cabinet ministers resigning in the days before national elections is not standard operating procedure for a Government under pressure anyway and unpopular in the polls. 

Then comes the expenses row - and how the public have reacted. Even during the lowest points of scandal - Cash for Questions, Cash for Honours (let’s not forget that included a sitting PM being interviewed under caution) and the Westmoreland affair - never has contempt for our democratic representatives been so fervent. 

In the European elections, we will have perhaps the most visible demonstration of the effects of proportional representation ever. I wonder how the mood among those who support PR will shift if we have several BNP MEPs on Monday. 

And this before we consider the planned cabinet reshuffle - with the chancellor and foreign secretary seeming to threaten they will go to the backbenches if moved. 

Certainly the next few days will be interesting. Possibly the most brutal removal of a sitting PM we have seen since Cromwell. Possibly a Government defying opinion and calls for an election in the vain hope their electoral chances will improve over the next year. 

Students of politics will find this whole period fascinating. For everyone else, it’s going to look like unmitigated chaos.