The British Way (was Contest #15)

[dfrankiswork at netscape.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 27131

Joy M wrote:

>Way back when, pigwidgeon37 said:

>".. it is never made clear who nominates or elects the Minister of 
Magic."

>and Lyda Clunas speculated that

>"I'd imagine that there's some sort of board of Ministry officials or 
such, but who knows, perhaps it's a popular election. That would be 
interesting..." 

>Interesting, indeed.  Let's suppose there is an election:

This makes for a good contest - get your entries in while you can! - but I doubt if they have elections as normally understood.  Despite all the blether about Mother of Parliaments and being a beacon of democracy (we do hypocrisy as competently as any soi-disant leaders of the Free World), it is not really the Great British Way.

In normal circumstances, Fudge would let it be known among his close associates that he, while not exactly committing to anything, is starting to look forward to the idea of putting his feet up by the fireside.  His associates would then start looking for a Good Egg who might well be the right choice at the present time (if they want to get rid of him later it's important to signal that other choices might be right at another time).  To help with this they would consult a rather diffuse band known as The Great And The Good.  Malfoy would count in the first category, Dumbledore in the second as well as possibly the first.  The G&G would be consulted individually rather than collectively, and kept generally in the dark about who else was being consulted, though they could have a jolly good guess.  Eventually a Name would emerge and go the rounds.  If not too many objections were raised, that name would go forward to a formal process which would be a foregone conclusion.  If there were objections, a new Name would come out in due course.  Somewhere in the middle of it all, Fudge would announce his retirement from office and step aside for the Name. He might, if he wanted, go on 'to become more powerful than you could possibly imagine', to quote Obi-Won Kenobi, by going on to sit on various obscure committees.

In abnormal circumstances, say a crisis or clear signs of Leader Losing Grip, the associates would consult the G&G anyway, and then approach Fudge with some sort of polite, veiled ultimatum.  If he didn't go quietly, the formal process would be gone through for real (it is this that is the thin end of the wedge by which alien notions of democracy have gradually foisted themselves on the country).

The fact that the MfM is called Fudge suggests to me that JKR is well aware of the above type of process.

I can tell some of you think I am joking.  It wasn't until the sixties that the Conservatives introduced the idea of elections for party leadership - and when they did it gave them Ted Heath, hardly a point in favour of democracy for your True Blue.  Since then I can think of at least three instances in more than one party with elements of the above stitch-up in national politics.

David, (facetious remark about one of our political parties deleted out of respect for HPfGU rules)


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