Why the hiatus?

Really it is all self-evident. Who could possibly be interested in what seems to me like the silliest election campaign I can recall though that may be just because I have blocked details of previous campaigns out? So silly and pointless has this one been that people are getting excited about Ed Miliband's rather silly and desperate comment about non-doms, especially since the tape of Ed Balls saying in January that such a reform would lose Britain a great deal of money. But, at least, people are saying, this is an issue to discuss rather than endless chewing over opinion polls that tell you nothing or yet more pictures of Nigel Farage looking ever more ridiculous.

I have to admit to not watching the preposterous 7-way debate; I do not think those debates have any significance in the UK system and to have seven party leaders up there made it all look even more of a farce than it was last time. I cannot help wondering whether Cameron insisted on the format for that very purpose. One thing has come out of it: the media and its audience have finally realized the Alex Salmond is not the Leader of the SNP and has not been for a while.

I am not impressed by Tony Blair's sudden intervention. One can see why the Labour Party might have thought that bringing on a leader who had, unusually for them, won three elections but those days are gone and there is little he can say that would appeal to anyone. Interestingly, it is usually the Conservatives who produce the dinosaurs like Ken Clarke or Malcolm Rifkind (ooops, no, maybe not him) and that never works either.

I hear tell (as no doubt do many of this blog's readers) that UKIP has once again abandoned the idea of target seats and decided to concentrate on South Thanet to get the Dear Leader into the Commons or, at the very least, prevent Craig McKinlay from getting there. (Farage and McKinlay go back a long way.) Not sure it will work: it did not in the last election and though the circumstances have changed one thing has not and that is the fact that our Nige is not a vote winner. Whenever I am told that he has the support of the overwhelming majority of this country (yes, indeed, there are people who say that though, to be fair, a good many UKIPers do not) I point to their so far lamentable electoral achievement and, in particular, Farage coming a bad third in what was billed as a two-horse race in 2010.

Things might change this time round but even if they do and even if the Dear Leader gets in that will give UKIP one seat and the only other one they can be certain of is Clacton.

That leaves the question of whether the Conservatives will win an outright majority or whether it will be another hung Parliament. Much to be said for either and all of it is very dull. For what it's worth I think at present that the Conservatives will have a small majority. But, as a previous Conservative Prime Minister once memorably said: "events, dear boy, events".

And that's enough election gumph. My next posting will be considerably more interesting.