I have never yet seen an election so drained of true excitement, so lifeless, colourless, sapless and noiseless. There are hardly any posters. I have yet to hear the crackling, braying sound of a loud-speaker van. It was not always so. Back in 1964, would-be prime ministers had to endure the ritual ordeal of the Birmingham Rag Market a few days before the poll. ...read
PETER HITCHENS: How I long for the rowdy mobs, lobbed tomatoes and crackling loud speaker vans from election campaigns of yesteryear
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