And they're off

Oh goody, an election.

The TV cameras have shown Gordon Brown getting into his car and being driven from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace, where he will ask the Queen for her permission to dissolve Parliament. Wonder what she will say? Perhaps she should raise his hopes for a bit, toy with him, suggest that he have another year or two in the job.

Interesting to see that Brown is being driven in quite an old, if rather lovely, Jaguar. 51 reg, almost ten years old. You would have thought the state coffers could have run to something more modern, or is this a deliberate attempt to show that the PM is scrimping by like the rest of us?

Apparently, once he has seen Her Majesty, Brown will formally announce the start of the election from outside Downing Street, flanked by his entire Cabinet. Makes a nice change from those ghastly campaign launches at primary schools and hospitals, surrounded by bored children and the dying, that Blair went in for. Looks a bit more dignified and it is sporting for the Cabinet to line up against a wall ready for the shots that will be taken at them.

This one could be interesting. Polls have wobbled between a near dead-heat and a ten-point lead for the Tories, but of course national polls do not reflect where close elections are really won and lost, which is in the 200 or so swing seats. For those of us in the other 450, our vote doesn't really matter.

Still, it will be fun watching other people exert democracy. Pop back from time to time for the Vole's view of the whole business over the next few weeks.