From the Editor

Both Anthony Lejeune, whose postelection analysis appears on page 30, and Mark Steyn last issue, predicted the results of Britain’s election in NR. But the prize for the most interesting mini-forecast goes to Mr. Steyn, who three weeks before the polling wrote: “This election will have a low turnout, and it will be lost by the party whose apathetics are the best organized.”

In a London Times article, former Irish Prime Minister Garrett Fitzgerald points out that the popular vote fell a full 6 per cent from 1992, to 71 per cent (a low turnout by British standards). Within this reduced total, moreover, the most striking trend was not an increase in Labour support-Labour received fewer votes than the Conservatives did in John Major’s narrow 1992 victory—but the collapse in Tory support.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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Both Anthony Lejeune, whose postelection analysis appears on page 30, and Mark Steyn last issue, predicted the results of Britain’s election in NR. But the prize for the most interesting mini-forecast goes to Mr. Steyn, who three weeks before the polling wrote: “This election will have a low turnout, and it will be lost by the party whose apathetics are the best organized.”

In a London Times article, former Irish Prime Minister Garrett Fitzgerald points out that the popular vote fell a full 6 per cent from 1992, to 71 per cent (a low turnout by British standards). Within this reduced total, moreover, the most striking trend was not an increase in Labour support-Labour received fewer votes than the Conservatives did in John Major’s narrow 1992 victory—but the collapse in Tory support.