When courting the electorate, it helps to make them laugh. In a new book on general elections since 1830, the broadcaster Iain Dale recalls an encounter on the doorstep when he was a Tory candidate in Norfolk in 2005. A lady opened the door wearing a vest that showed arms covered in tattoos of the singer Meat Loaf. As Dale explained his vision for the nation, she enthusiastically replied: “You took the words right out of my mouth.” Recognising a line from Bat Out of Hell, Dale gave the next: “It must have been while you were kissing me.” The woman broke down in giggles and promised her vote. This is better than his approach in 1983 when a voter told him he had
