I look at my friends and colleagues, and see a wide variety of political opinions. I might disagree with somebody’s politics, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have good reasons for their beliefs, and it doesn’t stop me valuing them and liking them. And arguing with them.

It seems to me this is a basic requirement for living in a democracy: the acceptance that other people’s opinions are as heartfelt as one’s own, and that just because they see the world a different way, it doesn’t make them bad. I strongly believe that most people are honest and caring, even though that may be expressed in different ways.

From observation I think that many people on the right of politics look at that on the left with a little condescension, perhaps with a belief that most people grow out of left-wing politics as they assume the responsibility of life, but see them as being well-meaning if misguided.

More worrying is the intolerance of some of those on the left of politics, who use hate language to describe those on the right. This has always occurred, but is more apparent than before on social media. There is a disconnection between lefties using words like scum, evil, and fascist, and the reality of Tory voters’ concerns.

Which has to go a long way to explain the “shy Tory” factor; Tory voters are less likely than others to identify as such in opinions polls, in normal social interactions, and online. It is saner to avoid rather than engage with the intolerance and bigotry of those who fling around insults yet make no effort to understand others’ politics.

I wonder whether we will see a parallel “shy Labour” factor in Scotland, since so many anti-Labour insults have been flying around.

It's almost election time. I'm looking forward to playing my part in our democracy. But do you know who your current elected representatives are?

[Poll #1731353]

Labour’s new spin doctor, Tom Baldwin, has asked media organisations to refer to the Westminster government as “Conservative-led”, rather than “coalition”.

[Poll #1669374]

Through the post today I received a voting pack for the election of members to Fife Health Board. There was an instruction sheet, a ballot paper with a freepost envelope for return, and a booklet of statements from the candidates who are standing for election. As far as I can see, there is no explanation of what the Fife Health Board does, or why its members are elected.

There are sixty-one names on the ballot paper, of whom I can select as many as I like, marking them in my order of preference. Twelve of them will be elected. The candidate statement booklet runs to twenty-three pages of anodyne personal histories. I have no idea how one is supposed to make any kind of informed choice.

I suspect the lot of it will go straight in the paper-recycling bin. I wonder how much it cost NHS Fife to run this exercise in pointless democracy.

There are fifty nine Westminster seats contested in Scotland. The Liberal Democrats hold eleven seats with 18.9% of the vote; the Conservatives hold a single seat with 16.7% of the vote. Together the coalition government gained 35.6% of the Scottish vote.

In 2005 Labour formed a government with 35.3% of the vote across the UK.

…it’s time to fix the economy. Let’s hope that the coalition between the Tories and Lib-Dems will work, will be accepted by the parliamentary parties and by the party memberships, and will last a full parliamentary term.

Thirty-one years ago the Conservatives came to power, and had to make deeply unpopular choices in order to fix the broken economic legacy that Labour had left them. Now they have to do it again. I imagine that cuts in public-sector spending will cause pain across the country, and I hope that whatever tax rises are on the way will avoid the least well-off, and don’t harm growth.

Congratulations to the new First Lord of the Treasury, and to the new Deputy Prime Minister.

Interesting election results last night; the unpredictability of the swing makes me think that individual campaigns and local issues counted for much more than the party leaders’ debates and national newspaper endorsements.

Will we see a sustainable agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats? It seems to me that would be the best outcome.

There must be strong emotions at work in the different parties today, fuelled by tiredness and uncertainty. Labour expected to lose a lot of seats; they lost big, but it could have been much worse for them. The Tories expected to gain a lot of seats; they didn’t get as many as they hoped for (but perhaps as many as they could have practically expected). The Liberals look to have had, in a way, the biggest upset, in that Cleggmania made a big noise but had no real impact on the electorate. That must hurt. And the political landscape in Scotland didn’t really change much.

We’re off to England for the weekend. We’re not venturing too far though; just over the border into Northumbria.

We voted this morning at the Boys’ Brigade Hall while taking Beth to school. Beth was upset that we didn’t vote for her chosen colour.

There is so much politics on television at the moment that one can’t catch it all. But a highlight is “The Daily Politics” on BBC2 every lunchtime. Mind you, I record it and watch it in the evening after Kate has gone to bed, as she is rather allergic to political television.

Andrew Neil is possibly the best political interviewer on TV at the moment; he has an incisive way of targeting interviewees weaknesses, while appearing to be totally reasonable and affable. He sometimes exhibits a personal viewpoint, which humanises his interviewing, without aligning himself on party political lines. He’s also good at bringing out the best from political journalists, much better than when BBC News presenters talk to journalists.

Jo Coburn is a delight too; what a wonderful laugh.

A bit of history.