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Returning Officers (Accountability)

I was going to say that it was never to be repeated, but that is not quite our line. I am sure that we will have a wonderful new dawn on 7 May. I have not blotted out the date of the election. Strangely enough, the Prime Minister has not confided in me. Similarly, the question that everyone asked for weeks in the aftermath of that election—"Were you still up for Portillo?"—would not have quite the same ring as, "Did your tea-break coincide with the announcement of the result from Enfield Southgate?" My view on this point is that the rules for returning officers should be more prescriptive. Unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary, the counting of ballot papers should begin on polling day itself, not the following day.