Leigh Sanders on potholes, promotion and the relevance of Eurovision

I HAVE never written a column like this before, thought I would just get that disclaimer in early, but the invitation to attempt to fill the boots of the legendary Peter Rhodes was too good an opportunity to miss. So here goes:

WHAT a great day for Wolves fans with that promotion parade on Bank Holiday Monday. The weather, the numbers on the streets, the atmosphere. What did make me laugh was the national press arriving and trying to join in the party. One colleague pointed out one outlet had written about ‘amber and black’ being out in force. Didn’t realise Barnet fans were there too.

AND having taken part in the promotion party, nice to see Tito Jackson carried on his tour of Wolverhampton by taking in another important local landmark. Hope he enjoyed his Dixy’s Chicken.

THE recent local council elections were a pretty quiet affair really. I thought the build-up was up there with the most muted in my lifetime. I had two leaflets through my door – one labour, one Tory – and heard little else other than the (excellent of course) coverage given by the E&S. It made me feel like maybe candidates/councils/parties were saving their cash for more important upcoming matters. Surely we aren’t actually going to get another Referendum?!

AND the national news reports on the day of the vote annoyed me greatly. One TV report announced ‘neither Jeremy Corbyn nor Theresa May really made any gains’. And this, for me, is a major problem. National and regional/local politics are two completely different beasts. They should be treated as such and we should not vote on one based on our thoughts of the other. Otherwise we will never break the chain of national political point scoring and tomfoolery and actually get local councillors who can achieve anything.

ONE thing of which is potholes. Yes, dreaded potholes. I’ve already had to fork out £183 in 2018 on two damaged tyres and a buckled wheel thanks to the damned things. And reading the letters page in this paper I am not the only one. Still, nice to see the council has the cash for ‘pop-up gardens’ in Wolverhampton though.

AND on the point of Brexit, all this talk of people not knowing what they were voting for is nonsense. In the age of the reality TV explosion, where people dial every week to save their favouritesinger/cook/baker/magician we all know how competitions work. All we had to do was walk in a booth and put an X next to whether we wanted Blighty to stay in The BreX Factor or get voted off. Simple.

AH, the return of Eurovision. I actually think this still has a major role to play today. As well as being the eccentric escape of a continent from everyday stress it is still as much fun now watching the absolutely politically neutral voting part as it was as a child. Plus, this year we found out Hollywood star Will Ferrell, through his Swedish wife, is a huge fan. He is apparently thinking about making a movie on the spectacle. I think we can all agree Ron Burgundy competing for the Swedes would be a barrel of laughs.

*Peter Rhodes is away