Philobiblon

There’s something slightly inevitable about the fact that as this canvasser was cycling down Dartmouth Park Hill this afternoon, the cyclist who passed her was the Green Party candidate in the Highgate byelection.

(My excuse for going so slowly was that I had a full backpack of leaflets for the morrow, and I don’t know the road… and he is a local. Although it was slightly embarrassing that when we met up again at the lights at the bottom of the hill, he was complaining about a slow puncture and saying he was going slowly…)

Canvassing for four separate elections involving three voting systems is, you might say, challenging – but entertaining. (For the record, the London mayoral vote is by the supplementary vote system; the London Assembly constituency seats by first past the post, and the London Assembly London-wide members by the d’Hondt method (a form of proportional representation). And the Highgate byelection for Camden council is also first past the post.)

Note to my neighbours: if you hear me reciting this in my sleep, don’t be surprised.