Here's a slightly different thread for a Wednesday afternoon, inspired by the news brought to us by Harry this morning that Barbara Windsor's character in EastEnders, Peggy Mitchell, is standing for the local council.
I haven't watched EastEnders since the golden years of Den and Angie in the late 1980s, but I am a dedicated Coronation Street fan and it got me thinking as to how the different characters on the soap might vote.
Coronation Street is no stranger to local politics as Deidre Barlow was a councillor on the show some years ago, as was Alf Roberts before her (who, bizarrely, not only shared his name with Margaret Thatcher's father, but also owned a corner shop and was mayor of his town). It was never explicitly stated, but Alf was doubtless a Tory, whilst Deidre would have been Labour.
The fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield, where Corrie is set, is based on Salford, the real-life political home of Hazel Blears - so it would presumably be a Labour seat.
But I reckon there are a fair few Tory voters living on the Street. The likeliest suspects are those who own the small businesses - I'm thinking Dev Alahan, who owns a chain of corner shops; pub and cab firm owner, Steve McDonald; and Rita and Norris, who own the newsagent.
Then there is Emily Bishop, the pillar of the community who volunteers at the shop at the local hospital; Audrey Roberts, Alf's widow, who owns her own hairdressing salon; and the socially-aspiring Sally Webster. I'd say they are all True Blues.
Sally's husband, Kevin, would probably see voting anything but Labour as betraying his working class roots, and other likely Labour voters would be Jack Duckworth, Janice Battersby (if she bothers to vote at all), Eileen Grimshaw and, of course, Deidre and Ken Barlow - although I wonder whether Ken might have flirted with the Lib Dems of late (unlike the actor who plays him, Bill Roache, who is a member of Tatton Conservative Association and an occasional celebrity cheerleader at party conferences).
I'd identify Roy and Hayley Cropper as likely Lib Dems, or possibly even Greens, whilst Ashley and Amy Claire Peacock are extremely hard to place, (Sorry, I was clearly thinking of my cousin Ashley's wife, Amy) .
The other regular character who I cannot instinctively place is the ever-striving Gail Platt. Though the step-daughter (thanks for pointing out my error, Empedocles!) of the former (Tory) councillor, Alf, I can well imagine her having been lured by Tony Blair and New Labour in the 1990s. But then I can see her now having thrown in the towel with Labour and thinking that David Cameron is an attractive prospect as Prime Minster.
Maybe winning the support of Gail Platt is the key to Tory victory at the next election?
