Now that the general election is over I need to review how I did with the courageous (foolish!) predictions I made a few weeks ago.

Actually not too bad considering, and certainly a lot better than either the media or the pollsters.

I forecast an outcome of the conservatives returned but still in coalition with the lib-dems. I certainly didn’t see the complete wipe out of the lib-dems that occurred, but I got totally right the result in that the conservatives are still the dominant party.

As an aside I feel truly sorry for the lib-dems who I believe acted with common sense and decency during the last 5 years. I hope they make a comeback.

What about my other prediction – UKIP? Again I was right. I predicted they would win a large share of the vote but gain very few seats. That’s exactly what happened.

So how has all this affected my book “Too Many Assassins”? The conservative win without the lib-dems has made virtually no difference to the plot and the rise of UKIP was as predicted. My dilemma is what Nigel Farage is going to do. I had not anticipated he would step down as leader and he features in my story as the charismatic leader who is eventually ousted by Francis Ventrice. As Nigel is wavering about whether to continue or not I need to leave this as an open question for the moment.

The book is all about the rise and rise of UKIP and its effects on some of the more lunatic elements in the conservative party. Nothing has changed. Enjoy a great read!