News: How to Get Away for Election Day

On the eve of what promises to be one of the dullest British elections in recent years, many people are no doubt thinking about how to get as far away from politicians as possible.

Naturally, Flightmapping has the answer, especially as the best namesake locations for all three major party leaders all involve substantial long haul flights. This should enable passengers to sleep through the election, without being disturbed by party political broadcasts, election leaflets, or canvassers.

As at least two of the party leaders should be disappointed by the result, they might also want to consider holidaying in these locations on May 6th:

Tony Blair

Blair House is a guesthouse for state visitors to the US capital, Washington, DC. This is somewhere which Mr Blair of course knows only too well! Blair House also acted as a substitute for the White House, which underwent extensive renovations during the presidency of Harry Truman.

Regular flights to Washington, DC are available from London Heathrow with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and United, with six weekly flights also available from Manchester with BMI.

Washington D. C. is the theoretical home of George W. Bush, although chances are that he will be at his usual ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Michael Howard

Michael Howard has single-handedly managed to make himself even more disliked than Tony Blair, even though he is only leader of the opposition. Fortunately, his best namesake location, is also the furthest away, with a guaranteed 24-hour journey ensuring little opportunity for disruption by party political broadcasts. Mr Howard often talks about using Australia as a political model, and therefore we would suggest that the village of Howard, Queensland would be the perfect location for him to visit when he wakes up with a very sore head on May 6th. The small village is situated near to Hervey Bay, and is a short drive away from the peaceful beaches of Toogrom and Burrum Heads.

Flights to Brisbane are available with Qantas or Singapore airlines via Singapore. Other connections are available via Hong Kong, Osaka or Dubai. Emirates offer regional connections to Dubai from Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as from London (Gatwick and Heathrow). One-way flights to Australia are, unfortunately, not much cheaper than return tickets, but we are sure that in a nation of former convicts, we could find someone to pickpocket Mr Howard's return flight coupon while he was away.

Charles Kennedy

There are numerous destinations associated with the US President John F Kennedy, not least of course the Kennedy airport in New York. However, even for the most avid plane-spotter, JFK is an unattractive and tangled mess. The Kennedy space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida, offers a much more attractive prospect, and the perfect place to blast some of the Liberal Democrat's more ridiculous policies into orbit.