Labour could do worse than look to The West Wing for electoral advice

THOSE of us who were fans of the hit US political drama The West Wing are suffering withdrawal symptoms.

The producers have decided to end the programme, and the last episode was screened by RTÉ a week ago. One of the strengths of the programme, especially for us political anoraks, was the extent to which its scriptwriters displayed a detailed knowledge of the internal workings of politics.

The penultimate programme of the last series is a case in point. It takes place a few weeks after a US presidential election and, in his transition office, president elect Mathew Santos is putting together his team for when he takes over at the White House.