The Henley MP John Howell is not known for his over-the-top statements but he excelled himself this week when he described as ‘a disgrace’ the decision to hold the General Election counts in the Henley, Wantage and Oxford West and Abingdon constituencies on the Friday morning rather than immediately after the polls close on the Thursday night.

Dr Howell said: “It really is a monstrous society we’ve created when we are happy to be beamed every up and down of a B-starlet’s life around the clock, but the fate of the country is considered unimportant enough to wait until the next day.”

We think Dr Howell has rather missed the point here. The late-night count is part of the theatre of politics something we would contend has come to dominate the business over and above the policies and practices. Indeed, many aspects of politics are conducted as if its major practitioners are B-starlets in the movies.

You cannot argue with the view of the returning officer David Buckle that getting the count right is most important, not the speed of its delivery for the cameras. He is not alone in that with as many as a third of constituencies having either agreed to delay counts to the Friday or considering it.

Our democracy is a very important thing and we cannot allow it to be dominated by a media circus. The General Election is an opportunity for the main political parties to be scrutinised on how they propose to deal with one of the most difficult domestic periods in recent times.

The more we can do to ensure it is not seen as some sort of beauty contest, the better.