St. Agnes, UK: Yesterday, campaigning and political debate over housing, health, taxes and the future of the United Kingdom were put on hold — for a day at least — while Britons celebrated the birth of a baby girl to Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her husband, Prince William.
And almost immediately, party leaders commented on the birth of the fourth in line to the throne of the House of Windsor, hoping that the arrival of the baby girl would provide a bounce in feel good support. Any bounce in the polls, where the Conservatives under David Cameron and Ed Miliband’s Labour are tied with 33 per cent support of decided voters heading into Thursday’s poll, could make the difference in who will govern the UK.
“Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby girl. I’m absolutely delighted for them,” Cameron wrote on Twitter.
Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said he and his wife Miriam wished “them all the best as their family grows.”
Labour’s Miliband tweeted: “Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess on the birth of their daughter. Wishing them lots of joy and happiness — and hopefully some sleep!”
But with four days to go for the tightest election campaign post World War Two, the birth of the royal baby is a welcome distraction for the more mundane matters on the campaign trail.
Traditionally, it was a simple equation in general elections: the middle class broadly voted for the centre-right Conservative Party and the working class overwhelmingly supported centre-left Labour.
The trappings of the class system remain very much in place.
The royal family sit prominently at the top of the social pyramid and the social “season” for the moneyed elite still revolves around events such as Royal Ascot, the Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities and Henley Royal Regatta.
Many elite positions remain dominated by people who went to grand private schools such as Eton, where Cameron himself was a pupil.
