On the 12th of December the election means to me: 12,000 paper clips a-clipping, 111 count staff a-counting, 10 polling station heaters, 9th most marginal constituency, 85 presiding officers, seven postal vote openings, six and 90 salt bags, five candidates, 4-wheel drives on standby, 3am declaration, two deputy returning officers and a High Sheriff making the decree.

Organising a General Election at fairly short notice at any time of year is demanding, even if we’ve all been anticipating a snap election for some time. Preparing for a potential cold snap election a fortnight before Christmas requires a different sort of planning, particularly with a number of hilly and remote polling stations in our district.