WE will never really know if it was Gillian Duffy who cost Gordon Brown the last election but political party apparatchiks are damn sure it won’t happen again.

Political organisers are meticulously planning photo opportunities and are careful to avoid the repeat of the then Prime Minister being bum-rushed by a Rochdale voter in 2010 and then caught out by his candid comments caught on a microphone.

But this man-management is creating growing disquiet over the most controlled election campaigns ever.

These events are seeing politicians arriving, getting back-slapped by loyal supporters but refusing to take questions from journalists or the uninvited electorate.

As the election counts down, now is the time for them to start talking before people stop turning up and start tuning out.

It is great that so many politicians want to visit Sussex but it will not do simply to treat our county simply as a beautiful backdrop for photo opportunities.

Now is the time for the main two parties to stop worrying about not losing this knife-edge election and begin to show what they are made of to win.