The Toymaster's Castle

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Election

On the day of the election, Daniel sent everybody home an hour early to vote. He didn't exactly say that they had to vote against the 'New Socialist Pathway' party but most of the people there were pretty clever and they'd probably be able to work it out for themselves!

That evening, he ordered lobster and roast beef for us from the restaurant downstairs... a sort of last hurrah, I suppose. We didn't really know how long they'd be able to keep going... and we certainly didn't know how long they'd be able to keep serving that sort of posh stuff... when the new lot came into power. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of rather fine wine and then settled down to watch the results coming in.

And before long, it was clear that things were just as bad as we thought... probably even worse.

It was about three o'clock in the morning when the results were announced for Jeremy Wheeler's seat, their party leader. He was the one they called 'The Glorious Leader'. It had started as a bit of a joke but, somehow, it didn't feel all that funny anymore. I was stretched out on the sofa with my head on Daniel's lap and his hand was playing gently through my hair. By that time it was all more or less over and he won his seat easily.

"This must be what it felt like when the Nazis took over in Germany," I said.

"Another lot of Socialists with simple answers to complicated questions," he agreed.

"But the Nazis weren't Socialists... they were right wing."

"Yes! The Socialists have done a good job of airbrushing that inconvenient fact out of history," he said with a little laugh. "The word Nazi stands for Nationalsozialismus - National Socialism... they certainly believed that they were Socialists!"

After the announcement of his personal victory, their 'Glorious Leader' guy had given a speech. He did vaguely try to sound conciliatory with words about 'working together for a common goal' but I don't suppose he was really fooling anybody... but, then again, maybe he was. I mean... loads of people had voted for him, after all.

When he announced the first measures that his new government was going to take... savage tax rises for the rich; a doubling of the minimum wage; and a freeze on the prices of basic household goods, particularly food... Daniel let out a gasp.

"Are you going to lose loads of money then?" I asked.

"Of course not! Anyone who still has a significant amount of money invested in this country really hasn't been paying attention," he replied. "What shocked me was the combination of doubling the minimum wage and fixing prices."

"But it'll mean that poor people can afford more of the basic stuff, won't it?"

"But there won't be any 'basic stuff' about anymore... there certainly won't be anything in the shops. The food manufacturers and supermarkets are already running on ridiculously fine profit margins. They will simply not be able to afford to manufacture, deliver or sell it!"

But, before I could really think about that, Daniel swore savagely. He apologised... which was pretty unusual for him because he rarely did anything for which he thought he had to apologise... then he reached for the remote control and started rewinding the television footage.

'The Glorious Leader' was marching out of the hall with a gang of his followers... and they were all looking stupidly smug. Daniel scrolled back until the picture fell upon one of them.

There was no possible doubt.

It was Angus.

We stared at the still image for a long time until, at last, he said, "Well... at least we now understand how he managed to organise that riot!"