And so it comes to pass, News International's most popular
daily newspaper The Sun has declared its allegiance to David Cameron's Tories.
The Sun tells its readers in no uncertain terms today to vote
Conservative at the next election, effectively ending 12 years and 7 months of
"support", for the Labour Party.
"Labour's Lost It" screams the front page, followed by a
detailed blow-by-blow account about how Labour's tenure has been punctuated by
"under-achievement, rank failure and a vast expansion of wasteful government
interference in everyone's lives".
Of course the announcement was perfectly orchestrated, coming as it does just in time to pop any feel-good bubble generated by Gordon Brown's rabble rousing speech at the Labour Party conference in Brighton last night. But don't worry Gordie, you'll always be a hero to your wife at least.
Regardless, despite all its bluster, in today's multimedia 2.0 age, the Current Bun
switching sides is not the game-changer it once was. A barometer of public opinion,
perhaps - but nothing more.
In the past, Sun editors have been wined and dined by politicians on both sides
of the fence and famously claims to have won the election for the Conversatives in 1992. Yet this week we're told News Int's chief executive Rebekah
Brooks couldn't event get 10 mins with the PM to end their relationship in
person.
The only real surprise is that it has taken so long for Rupert Murdoch's
red-top to turn blue.
As with all messy break-ups, the writing's been on the wall for some time.
Now for the next six months we can sit back and enjoy the spectacle, as both sides
try and convince us of their relevance.
