On the 2nd of May, 1997, I was unemployed, and had been unemployed ever since I’d left university about 11 months previously. That night, a Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister: the first Labour Prime Minister in the UK for 18 years.

The following day, I was offered a job (starting on the 6th) and I’ve been in employment ever since.

I have always liked to think that this was because I’d been re-training in computer programming, and over the intervening period have improved my IT skills across the board, learning much more about database and web technologies, accessibility and usability etc. Yet the nagging doubt remained…

…was it just because Tony Blair was my ‘lucky’ Prime Minister?

Now, over a week into the reign of Gordon Brown, and without any sign of a P45 or equivalent slip appearing, I’m beginning to think that it wasn’t entirely down to Tony…

….but I’ve not yet ruled out the ‘Labour Government fighting unemployment’ theory: after all, I’ve never been employed under a Conservative Government; I’ve always been employed under a Labour government. On a deeply personal level then, the Labour party have done wonders in combating my unemployment.

Although I suppose it could be coincidence….