Polls Apart (20 page)

“We’re on,” shouted Henry.

Richard rushed through from the kitchen where he had been talking to Ray on the phone. Ray had kept insisting all the signs suggested they were going to win big, but Richard was still refusing to agree, not wishing to tempt fate.

By the time he had squeezed past the three children, his parents and Dan, Henry was already on his feet.

“They’re giving us three hundred and forty-two seats. That’ll do nicely.” Henry beamed as though they had just won.

“It’s good. It’s good,” Richard said quietly before being embraced by his proud mother.

“Oh Richard, darling. You’re so close. So close.”

He then turned to embrace his father who had tears in his eyes.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. “Richard’s going to be Prime Minister. My son is going to be Prime Minister.”

Dan stood slightly further back, absolutely speechless, but grinning ear to ear.

“Is Uncle Richard going to win, Daddy?” Jasmine asked.

“Looks like it Jazzy, he laughed. Soon the three children were bouncing up and down with excitement. It was impossible to suppress it. They were on their way, and everyone could feel it.

At
10
.
30
p.m., Les pulled up front to take Richard and his parents to the polling station while Sandra and Henry followed in the car behind.

“Don’t worry, I voted for you,” were Les’s first words when Richard opened the car door, raising a half-smile from his anxious passenger.

By the time they reached the school hall where the votes were being counted the place was buzzing with press, party members, candidates and their families. Richard was swamped as soon as he entered the building with
SDP
supporters clamouring to shake his hand. The hour-long wait was agonizing – and only made easier by the unending announcements of Social Democrat wins from around the country. Finally the moment came and Richard made his way up to the stage with the other candidates.

Sandra clutched Henry’s arm as they listened to the results being read out. They were confident Richard would win, but he needed to increase his twenty-two-thousand majority in order for the critics not to say he had personally been hit by the series of allegations made about him over the course of the campaign.

“Michael Denton, Green Party, two thousand, one hundred and twenty-seven votes. Gareth Hill, Alliance Party, seven thousand, nine hundred and sixty-two votes, Elizabeth Fenton, Liberal Party, nine thousand, eight hundred and seventy-four votes. Richard Williams, Social Democratic Party, twenty-four thousand, seven hundred and eighty-eight votes.”

Richard had to wait several minutes before the raucous cheering settled enough to enable him to give a humble acceptance speech in which he carefully thanked all those from the local constituency party who had helped him. He was cautious too not to sound overly confident of victory, simply remarking: “The tide is turning for Britain and we are ready.”

Joy watched their smiling faces as they left the polling station. A jubilant Richard, closely followed by Henry and Sandra who were deep in conversation, his hand touching her back protectively as he moved her past the waiting press. They had become quite a close-knit team, she could tell. She imagined the celebration they would soon be travelling on to, the totally overwhelming realisation that you had just fought and won a general election campaign. That, in Henry’s case, he would be working in the most powerful communications job in the land. Joy switched the
TV
off, threw her head back against the pillow and started to sob. The tears fell one after the other as she tried to make sense of the past few weeks. Losing her marriage, her job and one of her closest friendships in the space of a few days, then making the crazy mistake of agreeing to work for Kelvin.

She realised it had been a dumb move, made in the depths of her heartache. In the end, it had only worsened her pain as she worked day-in day-out in a job she hated for a man she absolutely loathed. And of course, by choosing to work for the Alliance, Joy had ruled out any chance of a reconciliation with Henry. Something that now the dust had settled she deeply regretted.

She switched the bedside lamp off and tried to get to sleep, but it was no good. She had told herself over and over again that she wasn’t going to sit up all night watching the election and obsessing about her husband. Now she realised there was no way she couldn’t watch it. But in that moment she also made a promise she knew she had to stick to: in the morning she would book a flight to New York, pack her belongings and leave.

T
hursday, 7
th May,
2009
, UK Newswire – The Social Democratic Party today emerged victorious from a hard-fought and dramatic general election campaign, ending five years of Alliance rule.

The party now has
340
seats in the House of Commons while the Alliance Party was left with just
248
, a fall of over
100
.

Richard Williams, at forty-four the youngest British prime minister in over
100
years, promised he would deliver “a brighter future, through courage and determination”.

Kelvin Davis resigned as Alliance leader saying: “I want to give the party a fresh start, under a new leader. All we need is a little time to reflect and recharge, and we will emerge stronger than ever before.”

Liberal leader Giles Henderson, hailed the election win of
63
seats for his party as “a turning point which marked the emergence of a powerful new voice in British politics”.

Meanwhile, many in the Alliance Party blamed their poor performance on Davis’s failure to engage with the public whilst Richard Williams and his wife Anna Lloyd had been forced to open themselves up in the face of several allegations made about their personal lives. Lloyd’s collapse on the eve of the election following an emotional public defence of her husband was also said to be a factor in winning public support – helping to secure the
SDP
’s victory after a rollercoaster campaign which saw unprecedented fluctuation in the polls.

The actress, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child, is expected to leave hospital this morning before accompanying her husband to Buckingham Palace where he will be asked by the Queen to form a new government.

An
SDP
party spokesman confirmed Lloyd had been suffering from exhaustion but had made a good recovery after “some much-needed rest”.

Anna finished applying her lipstick and packed her make-up bag into her overnight case before perching herself on the bed again. She had been told the police officer guarding her room would let her know when Richard’s car had arrived and would then escort her down to the front door to join him.

He had called her in the early hours from the car while on his way back to London to tell her the election result. She had fallen asleep in front of the television before midnight and was fast asleep when she heard the phone ring.

“We’ve made it, Anna. We won,” Richard told her breathlessly.

“I’m so proud of you, Richard,” she had replied woozily. “I knew you would make it.”

“
We
made it, darling,” he corrected her. “I can’t wait to see you. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” she had tried to reassure him, though she couldn’t imagine how she was going to cope with what now lay ahead.

Now waiting to leave the hospital, her stomach was churning at the thought of facing the press again after a couple of blissful days away from the public glare. As soon as her outfit – a navy Joseph dress she had chosen with Camilla for this day several weeks ago – was delivered earlier that morning, Anna’s nerves had started. She let out a long sigh and began her breathing exercises. She could just feel the tension starting to ease when there was a tap on the door. She immediately jumped off the bed and reached to pick up her case, ready to leave. The policeman stuck his head around the door, but instead of announcing Richard’s arrival he said: “There’s a Marie Simpson here to see you, madam. She said you know her?”

“Oh,” Anna replied, dumbfounded. Richard had told her Marie had tried to commit suicide – a piece of gossip passed on from Henry that she hadn’t taken seriously until now. “Umm… let her in.”

A few moments later, Marie walked into the room looking suitably sheepish. Her face was devoid of make-up and Anna noticed she looked pale and drawn.

“It’s true then?” Anna broke the silence. “You were staying here too.”

“Yes,” said Marie. “I did something spectacularly stupid and ended up being admitted here on the same evening as you.”

“That’s pretty ironic,” Anna laughed uncomfortably. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just very, very ashamed of myself.” Marie’s eyes were stuck to the floor as she struggled to compose herself. “What makes it worse is that I admire you so much for what you’ve come through and achieved and every story that I ever wrote against you felt totally and utterly wrong. I just came to hate myself.”

“Oh Marie,” Anne gasped. “You didn’t… do that on my part?”

“Not just you. It was a mix of things. I think I’ve probably struggled with depression for years and just hadn’t done anything about it. The staff here have been great though and I’ll be getting the right help now. Anyway,” she said, finally raising her eyes to meet Anna’s. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what I did, and I really wish you well in Downing Street.”

“Thank you,” Anna smiled. “That means a lot. I know how it feels not to like yourself. I just hope you can get to a happy place again soon and know that you can move on from your past and build a good future.”

“I hope so.”

There was another knock on the door before the policeman opened it again to tell her Richard was waiting in the car outside.

“I suppose I’d better go and face the world again,” Anna sighed.

“They love you out there,” Marie smiled. “Enjoy it.”

“I wish I could.” Anna leant forwards and kissed Marie on the cheek. Looking at the journalist, who felt she had sold herself out, she realised they had much in common. “We’re not so different, you know,” Anna said. “As a younger woman I also took jobs that only increased my self-loathing. I struggled for years to forgive myself but…” she clasped Marie’s shoulder, “you can make mistakes and still be a good person. It’s the only way you learn.”

Marie nodded, her head still bowed. “Thank you,” she replied softly.

Anna gave her shoulder another squeeze. “Take care,” she said before following the policeman down through the hospital corridor and back into public life.

Richard was waiting for Anna near the door of the hospital. As soon as he saw her emerge from the lift he rushed forwards to embrace her while cameras flashed furiously outside. It was an awkward moment, they both knew, because it would appear to many to have been staged when, in reality, it was just a natural reaction.

“It’s so good to have you back,” he whispered. Anna smiled and followed him outside and to the car, clutching his hand. “From hospital to Buckingham Palace. This is quite a journey,” she joked nervously as she took her seat in the back of the vehicle.

“It’s all just a great big show, Anna. Nothing you haven’t done before,” he squeezed her hand. “You need to think of this as another acting job. We smile and wave and everyone’s happy.”

Not everyone
, Anna thought. But just as she’d learnt from her acting coach, she took a deep breath and prepared for her next performance.

Marie clutched her coat tightly as she waited for her parents to collect her from the hospital. She glanced at the clock again and saw it was now five minutes to the agreed pick-up time, when her new life living with her mother and father and taking heavy-duty anti-depressants would begin. She felt like a child again. And a naughty one at that. One who couldn’t be trusted to be alone for any significant period and one whose future was now uncertain.

She heard a door swing open in the corridor and the sound of footsteps coming ever closer. Then she recognised the familiar throat-clearing that could only belong to one man. Before she could react, he was standing in the doorway.

“Hello Marie,” he said, cautiously. “Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?”

“Well, you’re here now,” she replied, avoiding eye contact like a sulky teenager.

Damian perched himself on the edge of the visitor’s chair and looked up at Marie who was still sitting on her bed, swinging her legs under its rails. He thought she looked so tired and alone, it took him all his willpower not to get up and put his arms around her.

“I resigned today, Marie,” he said, matter-of-factly. “The Echo Group put a statement out about it a few minutes ago, so it’ll be all over the news soon. Course, they didn’t mention the Ancroft story. They just said I wanted to move on to pastures new, but it won’t take long before questions are asked about my editorial judgment.”

“You just did what Victor wanted you to,” Marie muttered, only looking at Damian fleetingly as she spoke. She noted he was unshaven with dark circles under his eyes. She thought his posture was less assertive too, and she could see his ego had been deflated. Looking at him sitting timidly in the chair she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

“I spoke to him this morning. I said he’d put both me and the staff – especially you – under a ridiculous amount of pressure to produce anti-Williams exclusives and that in the end we’d had to throw editorial standards out of the window to make a tenuous link between Williams and Ancroft’s cocaine abuse. My decision to run with the “My Cocaine Nights with Richard Williams” headline is without doubt the biggest regret of my career. Whether he decides to sue or not we’ll have to wait and see, but I didn’t want to hang around for that. My resigning draws a line under what happened and allows the
Echo
to move on.”

He leant forwards slightly and cleared his throat again. “I didn’t just come to tell you that though, Marie,” he continued. “I wanted you to know how sorry I am that I drove you to this. I can’t tell you how ashamed of myself I am. I really, really admire you, Marie. More than anyone I ever worked with, but I just got things all wrong. I thought you felt the same. I…” Damian faltered as he searched for the words to continue so Marie decided to put him out of his misery.

“This wasn’t just down to you,” she said, gesturing around the room with her eyes. “I’d been struggling for a while and the whole election thing just tipped me over. The blunt end of tabloid journalism was not the right career choice for me. I never felt good about it and, considering I’ve never thought particularly highly of myself, it wasn’t a good mix.”

“Looks like we’re both looking for new careers then,” Damian laughed awkwardly.

“Yes,” Marie smiled.

“I hope we can be friends,” Damian said, searching her face for clues.

“We can try,” she replied, glancing at him briefly again.

The door in the corridor swung open again and they listened to the footsteps, which, seconds later, were revealed to come from Marie’s parents. Her father entered the room first, his face flushed and his hair windswept.

“There are photographers and reporters all round the entrance. I asked them what they were doing there and one of them said it was about you and him,” he said, pointing an accusing finger towards Damian.

“What do you mean me and him?” she asked, confused.

“They know he’s resigned and you tried to…” he looked away, unsure how to complete the sentence. “I guess one of your former colleagues must have told them about your situation. Anyway, they’re here now so we’ll have to try and get out the back.”

“Look,” Damian began, “I’ll go out the front and speak to them and that’ll divert attention long enough for you to leave from another exit.”

Marie studied Damian for a moment. A man who had been just as misguided as she was, but who was, ultimately, not a bad person. She thought about leaving with her mum and dad and going back to sit in their house, living by their rules. Would that really be the right environment for her to begin again? She had only moments to decide.

“Wait, Damian” she said. “I’m coming with you.”

Though the journey from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street would usually take just a few minutes, the new Prime Minister’s motorcade moved at only snail’s pace through the crowded streets, every one lined with well-wishers and supporters. Richard continued to hold Anna’s hand as they smiled and waved graciously to the people cheering and waving Union Jacks as they passed.

“There’s so many of them,” Anna remarked flatly. Ever since leaving the hospital she had felt on auto-pilot, going through the motions as a selection of officials guided her every move.

“It’s fantastic,” Richard beamed. “Isn’t it?” He turned to her seeking reassurance that she was as thrilled with this moment as he was, but she didn’t have to speak. He could tell by her blank expression that her only feeling right now was one of bewilderment.

Sensing his eyes on her face, Anna smiled weakly at Richard. She wondered where on earth he found the energy considering he had only had one hour’s sleep. She had done nothing but rest for the last two days yet still felt exhausted and completely removed from the situation. She berated herself for not being able to put on a show of happiness for Richard on what she knew was a momentous day. What kind of person was she? Why couldn’t she do this for her husband?

The Queen had spoken warmly to him and he had emerged from their meeting at the Palace with a smile from ear to ear.

“I think she likes me,” he’d whispered to Anna when they were out of the earshot of Palace officials. Yet all Anna had been able to do was offer a set of stock answers: “That’s great,” and “Wow, amazing.” Perhaps, she thought, this was all too much to take in at once and she would soon warm up to this celebration. She certainly felt proud of Richard and happy for him too, but it didn’t ease the sense of disconnect.

As they continued their journey to Downing Street, they looked up through the tinted sunroof to watch the news helicopters circling above, slowly tracking the motorcade.

“Do you think you’re ready for this new adventure, Anna?” Richard asked.

“Ready as I can be,” she managed a half smile.

“I couldn’t do this without you,” he said, squeezing her hand and continuing to wave to his supporters with the other.

Anna looked out of the window towards the cheering crowds and deliberately smiled widely so no one would guess her fear and insecurity. How was she going to fit into this new role? And if it turned out she couldn’t, where would that leave her marriage?