Armando Iannucci: We’ve shown Theresa May we’re a bloody difficult electorate And so, we come to the endgame of Mrs May’s Terrible Adventure. The election was called because the Prime Minister […]

And so, we come to the endgame of Mrs May’s Terrible Adventure. The election was called because the Prime Minister didn’t like the fact that, on Brexit, other sentient beings had opinions different from her own.

‘We were expected to vote in acclamation, our ballots raining down in their millions on her’

So, Mrs May consulted the law forbidding another election until 2020 and, through the special ritual of not agreeing with that law, made it no longer valid.

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That her campaign would lead inevitably to the proper and best result for the country, was so beyond debate that debate was no longer necessary.

Instead, the PM planned to go to Buckingham Palace to tell the Queen the size of the majority she needed, and from there proceed on a carefully choreographed march across all the territories of Mrs May’s realm. And we, shorn of the burden of argument, were expected to vote in acclamation, our ballots raining down in their millions like tiny points of data forming the Matrix in her head.

You can’t pummel voters into submission

Well, it hasn’t worked out like that. If this election has demonstrated one thing, it’s that you can’t pummel voters into submission. We, it turns out, are a bloody difficult electorate.

I think the fault lies with the presidential status Prime Ministers like to give themselves as they assume office. We live in one of the most centralised democracies in the world, with very few checks and balances on any government with a solid majority.

‘Mrs May’s bizarrely ill-thought-out social care policy ran aground because she didn’t talk to anyone about it other than the two or three individuals chosen by her personally to say they agreed with it’

But added to this has been the steady power grab by Prime Ministers to run all departments and budgets from 10 Downing Street, and to consult with only a small circle of personal advisers. Theresa May’s bizarrely ill-thought-out social care policy ran aground because she didn’t talk to anyone about it other than the two or three individuals chosen by her personally to say they agreed with it.

This country becomes less democratic rather than more whenever a Prime Minister is in charge of a commanding majority. Opposition is silenced, review, revision and challenge are all swept aside by the numbers. So, I believe it’ll be healthier for our politics if Theresa May’s majority is kept as low as possible. The good news is that the voters most likely to do this, 18 to 24 year olds, have registered in large numbers.

It’s down to you

For the past six weeks, I’ve been hollering myself dry about the need for young voters to form a bloc as powerful as the over-65s. I’ve been pointing out that it’s because young people don’t vote in significant numbers they’ve been fleeced over the years – scrapped Education Maintenance Allowance, increased Tuition Fees, lower Housing Benefit and Student Disability Allowances – by Treasury Ministers looking for quick savings with no real threat of blowback. “Come out and vote for your principles,” I’ve been saying, “and if you’ve got no principles, come and vote out of self-interest instead.”

‘There’s no shame in tactical voting: parties campaign tactically all the time. In this election, Ukip has stood down in 200 constituencies to give the Tories a free run’

As the polls tighten, all now depends on turnout. If it’s tactical voting you’re into, websites such as www.compassonline.org.uk can let you know which candidate in your constituency is best placed to smother a Conservative majority.

There’s no shame in tactical voting: parties campaign tactically all the time, more so than ever in this election, where Ukip have stood down in 200 constituencies to give the Tories a free run. If tactical voting’s not your thing, vote out of principle, self-interest, a desire to disrupt or confound, or just out of a plain belief that democracy needs to be revitalized, and that can only start by increasing the number of people who participate in it.

This Thursday, it really is down to you.