I wonder if it has ever occurred to election candidates (in these days of post-vote horse-trading) that it would be a great deal more democratic – and honest – if they told electors before voting day to whom they thought their votes should go if, after a certain point in the campaign, it was obvious they couldn’t win?

I find myself attracted to the idea of minority candidates and king-makers reining in their egos and applying some public good ethics to the direction of their supporters…if only to do some good, rather than no good.

Far more attractive, of course, is the idea of people voting with their ideals and then getting real representation based on a proportional list system. But in the absence of that, this isn’t too bad a second-best.

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More immediately, an astonishing BBC exit poll tonight suggests the Tories are way ahead of Labour on seats, despite a LibDem loss of 47 seats – and an SNP rise from 8 to 58. I have my doubts about this, but having been about to declare for Labour based on the latest polls this afternoon, on the basis of the ex it poll we will be getting more of the same. Even with Conservative MPs plus the rump of ten LibDems, the Coalition has (on the basis of the exit poll) the overall majority it needs. On the side of this exit poll is a much larger sample…and the empirical record of voting behaviour as opposed to stated intention.

Either way, Harriet Harman has just analysed this exit poll and concluded that the Coalition has been “wiped out”, but then she is an incorrigible idiot with a very high IQ.