I have run a couple of marathons in my time. I am very impressed by the bloke who ran it yesterday in under two hours (presumably without taking a taxi ride on the way).

My best time was three hours, 20 minutes. I got overtaken by a bloke dressed as an ostrich towards the end of the Southampton one and was sick when I crossed the line in the New Forest version.

It is true that there is a point that feels like hitting the wall after around the 20 mile mark. You are exhausted and yet still have a long way to go.

Election campaigns are like that. I have been involved in scores of them over more than 30 years. I have noticed that there is a similar “low point”, when all the campaigners are physically and mentally run down and become irritable and even start falling out, largely because of the pressure.

There is nothing like sleeping badly and coming downstairs and seeing all those boxes of leaflets and letters that you still have to deliver before election day before concluding “never again”.

Of course, not all candidates are campaigners. Many simply, (often reluctantly) agree that their name can go on a ballot paper. They are paper candidates only. It isn’t unheard of for such people to win by accident, especially if there is a national surge in popularity for one particular party. Sadly, it doesn’t usually end well when you get a Councillor with no commitment to do the job.

I don’t know what term might be best employed to describe the scratchy and exhausted state that active campaigners go through, with no guarantee of success at the end of it. However, whichever party you belong to and wherever you are doing it…. I feel your pain !