Declan Lynch: 'There's nothing like that Divorce Referendum for recalling the enormity of the struggle to break the power of conservative forces'
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Declan Lynch: 'There's nothing like that Divorce Referendum for recalling the enormity of the struggle to break the power of conservative forces'
"The victorious Duke of Wellington said of the Battle of Waterloo that "it was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Yet compared to the Divorce Referendum in this country 30 years ago, Waterloo might be regarded as something of a walkover. The winning margin was less than 10,000 votes, as if the opposing sides had engaged in an epic arm-wrestling contest, winner takes all."
"The victorious Duke of Wellington said of the Battle of Waterloo that "it was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Yet compared to the Divorce Referendum in this country 30 years ago, Waterloo might be regarded as something of a walkover. The winning margin was less than 10,000 votes, as if the opposing sides had engaged in an epic arm-wrestling contest, winner takes all."
The victorious Duke of Wellington described the Battle of Waterloo as "it was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Thirty years later, the Divorce Referendum in this country produced a far closer political outcome by modern standards, making Waterloo seem like a walkover. The referendum produced a winning margin of fewer than 10,000 votes. The razor-thin margin conveyed intense competitiveness between opposing camps. The contest resembled an epic arm-wrestling match in which each side pushed for victory and the final result determined a decisive, winner-takes-all change.
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