Politics and dressing up

Hello again. While here (in England) I've learned so much about UK politics. For example, did you know that England does not have a written constitution? I didn't until I got here — or if I did learn it in school, I didn't remember it. And voters here didn't know until Tuesday when their general election would be held this year. That's because the Prime Minister gets to decide when to call the election, but he can't rule more than five years since the last election. That gives him the chance to call for an election when his party's poll numbers are good. It's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.

So on May 6, 650 MPs (or members or Parliament/members of the House of Commons) will be up for election. There are three main parties: Labour (Prime Minister Gordon Brown's party), Conservative (challenger David Cameron's party) and Liberal Democrat (challenger Nick Clegg's party). United Kingdom voters will elect the MPs and whichever party has the more seats will name the prime minister. There has been talk also of a hung parliament, but I won't go into that right now. :-)

It seems like Prime Minister Gordon Brown might have missed the boat this time and not called the election when his poll numbers were good. Some sources say conservative David Cameron will become prime minister because voters are looking for change — sound familiar? I'll definitely be watching once I return to the U.S.

Now, back to the touristy stuff. When in Rome, do as the Romans do ... or when in Lewes (pronounced Louis), dress as medieval lads and ladies. Here we are at Lewes Castle. Notice that the outfits Jim and Scott are wearing have a bit too many embellishments on them — we think they were meant for women. You might not be able to tell, but I'm making rabbit ears behind Cam and Brad's heads.

Today I went on another vocational visit — to The Argus, a regional paper based in Brighton. They're focusing on local coverage, just as we have for quite a while. More on that when I return.