The final NightHawks thread then before Mike Smithson returns to the fray tomorrow – as we speak he is on the Madrid-Paris sleeper. Can I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support while Mike has been away, and as ever, it’s been pretty eventful.

Huge thanks to the rest of the team who have contributed so magnificently in Mike’s absence – David, Henry, Morus, and Mark Gill for their articles, to Marf for the cartoons, and to the ever-watchful Moderator for his eternal vigilance.

On a personal note, this will be my last stint covering PB while Mike’s on holiday. I started over four years ago (in the first days of the Brown premiership!) but it’s now become too onerous looking after PB while also running the Election Game and holding down a full-time job, and (believe it or not!) I actually want to spend a bit less time covering politics.

As Blair said in his last conference speech, “I will be with you” – I will still be doing the occasional piece for PB in my international/medium-sized punter role and will hopefully meet a fair number of you at the next drinks evening.

A final plug for the current games: Argentina is here, Switzerland is here (both close 4pm Saturday) and Ireland is here (closes 7pm Wednesday).

It’s been a fantastic site to be part of and with the USA, France, and London Mayor next year, PB will continue to be the place to come to.

Very best wishes to all,

Double Carpet

www.electiongame.co.uk

Twitter @electiongame