“And that is that – the end.”

The mood in Parliament today (Wednesday; I'm publishing this a day late) was one of buzzing excitement. Security loomed extra-tight all around, and it felt almost like a holiday – people lingered in conversation, ignored phones, and stood rapt, staring at the tv as news steadily unfolded. When PMQ’s came on at noon, the entire office stopped everything to watch. Tony Blair was thoroughly enjoying himself. He fired off all sorts of witty comments. He proudly refused to detail his engagements, because “I have none such today, nor any other day!”. Then, when someone brought up unemployment, he read off his official pink slip/pension form he had just received in the mail. My favorite concerned the EU, when a rather extreme Tory stood up, wished Blair well, and then asked: “Is the Prime Minister aware that a majority of the people of the United Kingdom feel betrayed by the fact that they are being drawn down further into the suffocating quicksand and expensive bureaucracy of the European Union?” Blair, quite jovially, retorted: “I am afraid that we cannot agree on the treaty, but as for his good wishes to me, may I say to him au revoir, auf Wiedersehen and arrivederci?”

At the end of this session, the entire House of Commons stood and applauded – both of which NEVER happen. The House of Commons NEVER applauds, and certainly never gives an ovation. There was a funny moment, as people started to spontaneously stand, that Cameron looked to his left, signaled to a Cabinet member, got a nod in reply, and then jumped up and violently jerked his arm, yelling at his entire front bench to get up and respect Blair. Sadiq says many of the Labour MPs, and even some of the conversatives were crying as Blair left.

We ate lunch, chatting about guesses for who would fill the new Cabinet positions. When we came back to the office, Sadiq talked about house happenings for a bit, and then told us how this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Seizing on her opportunity, Leah then asked if she could skip out on work and go run over to Downey Street to watch the transition. Sadiq quickly agreed, so all of the interns and staff walked across the Parliament Grounds and stood outside the gates.

We were met by a large horde of protestors, mostly against Iraq, but also many other with pet issues. One lady near us held an incredibly inappropriate sign (calling Blair and Brown lots of very bad names.) After a little while, a throng of police officers came up to her and asked her to put the sign down. She refused. They then wrote her a public disturbance ticket. She stood there stoically, refusing to leave. The head officer talked calmly to her for several minutes, explaining to her why her behavior was inappropriate. I didn’t hear her response, but I’m sure it was very rude, because finally the chief signaled, and about four men forcibly picked her up, swung her over their shoulders, yanked her sign away, and then carried her off to one of their impromptu stations. Their actions were met by significant applause and cheers from the rest of the crowd around her. (The crowd had sort of naturally segregated into supporters and protestors; we were in the supporter throng.) As word came Brown would soon be leaving Buckingham Palace and entering 10 Downey, the crowd all got pushed back behind some barricades so the security gates could be entered. I’ve never been that tightly packed in my life – but I ended up with an excellent spot near the front. The wait wasn’t really worth it – all we saw was Brown’s car, then the gates closed again, and as he gave his speech we caught glimpses of his head. Still, I enjoyed the experience. It was a bit silly, though, to stand among the “common” crowds, when I can get much closer to Brown just walking through the halls or attending a session in the House of Commons.

The picture is of her receiving the ticket. I purposefully did not give you an angle where you could read the sign. Little children might be reading this blog, after all!

Similarly, the news kept showing live feed from a helicopter hovering over the parliament complex. Knowing I was in that building at the moment felt odd … I was half-tempted to stick my hand out a window or something just to see if it was big enough to get picked up on TV. I didn’t, though – that would be quite the unprofessional American thing to do for someone who’s trying to fit it with British politics.

The transformation in Brown was really rather amazing. Maybe I just hadn’t seen enough clips of him speaking publicly before yesterday, but all of his features seemed to have softened. He looks very gruff when he hits behind Blair in PMQ’s, but standing in front of #10 yesterday he looked 10 years younger, and almost gleeful. He has quite a nice resonating voice as well, which I liked. Instead of seeming like the unapproachable intellectual which the media has painted him as over the past while, he seemed quite personable. I think I’m more excited to hear Brown banter with the House of Commons next week then I was listening to Blair leave!