[Andy McDandy]

The weekend after the election I'm off to Lancaster for a university reunion, with a similar aim to that of Boiler.

Lancaster - heady memories of 1997, great in that dawn it was to be alive and so on. Charles Kennedy imploring us to vote - didn't matter for who, just get out there and vote. Hilton Dawson looking simultaneously confident of a thumping win and terrified of meeting actual voters. The Tories nowhere to be seen. But there was a feeling in the air of change - here was a new government that crucially got it, that had spent the years since the last election saturating the media, establishing themselves as a government in waiting, pointing out the gulf between their promises and the Tory litany of failure, complacency and playing only to their base. The 20th century was ending, a technological revolution was coming, and it was our time.

Going all Hunter S Thompson for a minute, but somewhere around 2001, you can see where the wave crested and rolled back.