On the stump - and nearly coming to blows with a voter

The start of the day and I'm already feeling exhausted! Just been in Whitechapel with Simon Hughes and some of our councillors, handing out eve of poll leaflets claiming he's neck and neck with Ken (YouGov, for once I thank you!).

The usual kind of crowd: people running to work, a homeless man who was fidgeting and talking to himself (he positioned himself near us, making people avoid us) and quite a few voters saying they had already voted with postal ballots. One trader outside the station was from Essex and wondered if he could vote for mayor (he can't), but I think I persuaded him to consider us in the East of England region. Send a message to Labour.

Compared to yesterday I shifted a lot of leaflets - it also helped not having those awful newspapers which we've been trying to deliver. Not only are they cumbersome and large (and you need something small around a tube station), the ink runs off them easily. Quite a few people did a double-take on seeing Simon - I don't think they expect to see him in their local area.

Meanwhile last night a few of us were on the Cranbrook Estate, north of Roman Road. I nearly got thumped by a voter, which would have been a first for a candidate.

Almost the first building I walked into I had an altercation with a voter. "What is this?" he asked, "Don't put this through my letterbox again."

"But sir," I replied, "You don't have a note saying no post. How should I know?"

Stumped he thought for awhile.

"Well, what have they ever done for us? They do nothing, these politicians."

"Did you vote last time?"

"No."

"Well, you can hardly complain then, can you?" I was quite sour, rude even. But if he couldn't be bothered, then why should I? Besides, he was becoming aggressive and started advancing on me. At which point a friend of his appeared at the door.

"You're lucky this time," he said. "Next time, you won't be."

Which is why while I'm understand Zoe Williams' argument in yesterday's Guardian about abstaining, to equate it with not voting can't be right. Fine, don't vote if you find yourself unable to support any of the candidates. But be active in your abstention: turn up at the polling station and register it by spoiling your ballot. But if you can't be bothered - and then grumble about the choice presented to you - then like the gentleman in Cranbrook Estate, expect short shrift from me.