I'm not sure the successes of periphery parties UKIP and BNP in the European elections here in the UK will mean much for the music business, except, in the latter case, presumably rallying more support from planet pop for the Love Music Hate Racism campaign. One can only hope so.
The top level election results, though, possibly suggest efforts to secure copyright extension and stricter rules on file-sharing and secondary ticketing should be focused more on relevant Tories rather than current ministers, given it's them who may well be the decision makers by this time next year. But I suppose the main political development of short term significance to those in the music industry who lobby political types was Friday's shabby cabinet reshuffle.
In particular Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary - who on Thursday committed the government to some sort of albeit vague "technical measures" to stop "persistent file-sharers" - was promoted out of the world of creative types, internet issues and extending copyright, and into the domain of medics, hospital hygiene and extending life, he becoming Health Secretary. Ben Bradshaw (pictured), honourable member for Exeter, was promoted from a Health ministry job to become top man at the Department Of Culture, Media And Sport.
Although his actual achievements for the music industry could probably be written down on one side of a post-it note, Burnham was widely seen as a friend of the music business, and had a good relationship with key personnel at most of the key music industry trade bodies. With the minister who actually oversees intellectual property, David Lammy, less keen to portray himself as a friend of the music industry (although, possibly, more in tune with the opinions of some musicians), it's thought the major music companies really need a friend in the DCMS to ensure their interests are truly represented, especially on copyright issues.
It remains to be seen if Bradshaw is that man. Of course the record companies et al could try appealing to the government's new 'Enterprise Champion' with their claims that stricter and longer copyrights are required to ensure the long term success and growth of content enterprises, though those who know their British music copyright history will know Alan Sugar is prominent for his role in stopping the record industry's attempts to use litigation to defeat P2P's piracy predecessor, home taping.