Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Dave Hill

What's happening out there?

So what's going on out there? I'm getting reports from both blue and red corners - or should that be both shades of mauve? - of heavy polling all over the place.

The received wisdom and that of MORI is that the higher the turnout, the better for Ken, though if carloads of over-55s in Surbiton and Hornchurch are rolling up to polling stations, that's got to be good for Boris.

Nothing exceptional was reported round my way when I marked my crosses earlier. It's seemed quiet all along: not one bit of election lit came through my letter box until yesterday evening (reliably, it was from Left List) and I've spotted only one poster in a window (for Paddick, tucked away in a backstreet). Mine is hardcore Labour country. Worrying.

Still, campaigning continues - a feature, perhaps, of the internet age. Team Ken sent out its rubbishing of the latest YouGov poll almost before it was published this morning. I'm sat here at home learning how to Twitter in preparation for tomorrow and wondering if Lib Dems are holding their noses and giving their second preferences to Ken in large numbers.

Simon Hughes has used barely-coded language to let it be known which of the two frontrunners he'd prefer to see win. I've canvassed four London Lib Dems of my acquaintance today and they've all owned up to stopping Boris. A commenter on Comment is free, who wrote yesterday evening that this time he's really had enough of Ken, has just let me know that when he finally got the stub of pencil in his hand he relented: Paddick first, Ken second as the lesser of two evils. Is this a trend or a coincidence?

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.