I hate elections!

That heading's quite wrong, actually.
I don't dislike the actual elections at all, but I really do hate, detest, despise and begrudge the election lead-up periods, which seem to get longer and more banal every four years, or however long it takes.
The main trouble is that, at our age (and I assume no-0ne under 60 reads this blog) we all know pretty much what's ahead. That's apart from the results, I mean.
We're not surprised by the tricky stuff within Parliament, we expect big arguments to follow small happenings, and we all expect train loads of puffing and panting from the politicians, their propper-uppers and the "expert" commentators.
There is, though, something significantly different in this year's extended march to "the only poll that matters" . . . . We have the contenders seemingly in agreement with most of the major policies and proposals of the current Government!
Finally, I had intended to tell you how many days we had to go before the big vote.
But I didn't know when you were going to read this, so you'll have to work it out yourself.