Speak (swiftly)

So, the grinning chappie to the left, John Bercow, has been elected speaker.

I feel alright about it, though I was really backing Widdecombe (not because of her politics - they're about as far away from mine as can be - but because I think she's got some integrity. Also, more importantly, she's utterly ridiculous and I think Parliament needs a touch of that). He would've been my second choice (along with Parmjit Dhanda). He's witty, articulate and, Lord knows, independent minded. He should do well.

Having said all that, the job probably isn't worthy of all the media attention it's got. Even I was swept along with it all, spending an indecent amount of time refreshing my browser for updates. When the final result came in at last, I was fascinated to note that, with the result announced in the Commons at 20.30, Twitter broke the news to the rest of us first at 20.31, followed, astoundingly, by Wikipedia, which was updated by 20.33 and lastly by the BBC, who "broke" the no longer news (again via Twitter - I can't speak for the main site) at 20.36. The most significant result of Bercow winning the Speakership, then, might just be the sounding of yet another death knell for the mainstream media.

If you had any doubts left in your mind, this provides incontrovertible (if anecdotal) proof that Twitter is fitter than the MSM. I need to look into how to get this blog linked up, poste haste.