"We had a ballot in the committee and it was me who was elected."
If we change 'it was me" into 'It is me', will the meaning of the sentence change?
Thanks
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
That all depends upon the context. If what you were talking about bears no relation to the present, you can only say: "It was me who was elected, however, if it is associated with the present, it is correct to say: "It is me who was elected."
I agree with Eff-Six. If the identification of who was elected has special relevance to the present, "is" could be used to highlight its relevance to the present. The natural and normal usage, however, is to have tense agreement between the matrix clause and the embedded clause of cleft sentences like these. Incidentally, strict formality here calls for "I": "It was I who was elected."