Polling day tomorrow, so that means no more delivering leaflets for a while, which is handy now that it has started tipping down outside.

As I was trotting round Furnace Green with the last lot of election material I was having the usual dark thoughts about the whole leafletting thing. I am not talking about the thoughts where you start mentally drawing up legislation to ban floor level letterboxes or those with industrial strength inner flaps, or to have front gates prohibited (or at the very least to have the catches standardised) I am talking about more fundamental thoughts like: what is the point?

You do reach a point where you search your memory to see if you can recall anybody, anywhere, ever admit to having changed their voting intentions in favour of somebody on the strength of a leaflet. The nearest I can get is having had people say that they wouldn’t vote for X party because they hadn’t even bothered with a leaflet and therefore obviously don’t care.

Of course, deep down I know it isn’t about that. It is not so much about converting a Tory or Lib Dem voter to a Labour voter but more about converting a Labour-supporting non-voter into a Labour voter, but you do sometimes wonder if the whole leafletting thing is just make activists feel needed, particularly if you are out on your own and it is hot and you have already done a day’s work.

Mind you, delivering your own leaflets is more enjoyable. I like it when somebody is outside their house and you can hand them the leaflet and say “I want you to vote for me”. So much more satisfying than just putting it through the door or having to recommend somebody else.

Having said that, I was really pleased today to see a Tweet from Peter Smith with a photo of a small gang of other candidates delivering some of my eve of poll cards. Two of them are actually candidates in target seats so I was especially chuffed to see them spare a little time to help me out, and all the negative thoughts started evaporating in a cloud of esprit de corps.