[Stuart]

I suspect there's more than a little giddiness from the Westminster journalists, but it's likely the opposition parties are happy to propagate the stories so they can roll out the bottler/chicken line when it inevitably doesn't happen.

I can understand the motivation of some political parties to spin that agenda. However, the reality is that we have a Parliament with a mandate which doesn't expire for another 8 months.

If I thought I was about to lose my well paid job, I wouldn't be in any hurry to bring forward the end of my employment. Plenty of Governments, of all flavours, have run it down to the wire. A GE in late January isn't really a problem for anyone.

Between 2015 and 2019 we had three GEs and a referendum. I was considering taking a fold-out camp bed to the Polling Station as it felt like I spent so much time queuing up there.

It might be nice for a Parliament to actually run a full term. The broadcasters are ready for whenever it happens, but might be easier in January as there is little else happening in the UK.