NEW LABOUR, NEW OPTIMISM

COMMENT> Shortly after the election, somebody wrote a letter to The Guardian. It simply read "Britain feels different." And it does. The end of nearly 18 years of Tory reign and the inauguration of a new government has inspired a new sense of optimism and renewed peoples enthusiasm. Of course, this will almost certainly be short-lived, as people realised that Labour won't be able to solve the country's problems overnight.

It was a particular delight to see Neil Hamilton lose his seat. His stubbornness in refusing to resign and his constituency association's decision to adopt him as their candidate were foolish. Even on the basis of what he had admitted he did not deserve to serve in Parliament. The Tories could have saved the seat by allowing Sir Gordon Downie's report to be published before the election.

Other highlights of the night were Michael Portillo's demise and Tony Blair's victory speech at the Royal Festival Hall. And nobody in the ENN office could resist chanting "OUT!" with the rest when David Mellor met his end. It was, however, pleasing to hear his condemnation of Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party - although with the party receiving 800,000 votes - about 2.5% of those who voted - Mr. Mellor's claim that the party was "dead in the water" is not very accurate, sadly.

Tactical voting played a big part and clearly contributed to the Liberal Democrats' huge gain. It was great to see the Lib Dems be so successful - let's hope it's their emergence as a real political force and a welcome break from the two-party system. Sadly, with Labour's huge majority the Lib Dems won't have the power to sway Commons votes.

All that remains now is to see who is elected as Tory leader, and to see if Labour can live up to their election promises. Will five years of a new Labour government really lead to a new Britain? Time will tell.