This week's pictures come from Hove Town Hall and the general election in Brighton on the night of May 5th. The votes for three parliamentary constituencies were counted here and the result was that Labour retained their seats in Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Kemptown and Hove. Mr Blair's party only just hung on in Hove and there was an exceptionally strong challenge in Brighton Pavilion by Keith Taylor, the Green Party candidate. It was a night of relief rather than celebration for New Labour. General election counts in Britain are curious affairs. The paper votes are brought in from polling stations in black metal boxes that look as if they have been around since the Blitz. They are then sorted by hand while workers from the political parties stand menacingly over the sorters to check for any mistakes. These are not difficult to make, since the whole process takes place after a long day and usually goes on into the early hours. The piles of votes are laid out on long tables and the rows for each candidate grow according to their success. It is a bit like looking at a horse race in very slow motion. Unfortunately, unlike a real racecourse, the bar at the Hove Town Hall was only serving soft drinks. At the declaration, the candidates line up on stage behind the official in charge of the election. This is where the weird and wacky ones get their moment of glory. On this night in Hove, the Silent Majority Party consisted of one man shouting very loudly and the Bob Dobbs representative seized the microphone to deliver an impressively wide-ranging rant. It was British democracy in action, even if the majority of Britons sensibly slept through it all.

Green candidate Keith Taylor speaks after the Brighton Pavilion declaration (image 2607-70b)

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