*grins* My inner politics geek is dancing about gleefully. The 1997 election was the first one I was really aware of, and I can remember everyone's reactions to that result - it was such a symbol of Labour's victory and it just got branded into the political consciousness. I stumbled across a recent interview with Portillo where he said that his first reaction actually was relief, because he knew that his party would lose the next election too and didn't want to be the one who led them to their next defeat.

Elections are just an instant way to infuse a story with excitement. I'm glad you liked this :)