A new housemate

Don't get me wrong, the rapid and remarkable ascendancy of the Liberal Democrats over the past view days is a good thing for democracy. Among the three main parties at Westminster, they have consistently proposed foreign policy that shames the narrow militarism of the other two, alongside what I take to be the most sustainable economic approach, and the greater willingness to countenace serious reform. What's more, alongside Gordon "I'll take responsibility for everything except what went wrong" Brown, and David "I met a black man in Brighton" Cameron, Nick Clegg really was refreshing on TV. So, a good thing.

But not a very good thing. It is a measure of just how narrow the debate has become that the third party stand out most on things like changing the electoral system and having a witty economy spokesperson. What's more, people's excited response to 'Nick' is rather like the water-cooler chat after Channel 4 introduced an entertaining wildcard into the Big Brother house. Just when everyone was coming to their senses and reaching for the remote, along comes someone unexpected to make the other residents (whom we deride) squirm.

Now, if there's not going to be a meaningful contest of ideas then at least make democracy entertaining. Thank you ITV for our first three horse race in a generation or two.

But our thirst for "a little bit different" shouldn't be sated by a change of personnel: there's still hope that our politics can become more meaningful than reality TV.