IF you ever ponder how to make the country more “democratic and accountable”, do you think of devolving powers away from London to this region?

Or do you focus on the rights of Scottish MPs to vote on matters – health, education and, very soon, tax - that affect England only, while the Edinburgh parliament decides its own affairs?

David Cameron believes it’s the second, which is why he issued an ‘English Manifesto’ today, pledging to fast-track a shake-up to introduce ‘English votes for English laws’ - or EVEL for short.

It is an issue that has failed to fire up voters so far, but the Tories hope that will now change, fuelled by the astonishing rise of the SNP.

The prime minister said: “If you have the people in one part of the UK feeling like they are getting a raw deal, then resentment festers”…..and that may well be true.

But the 21-page document said nothing about devolution within England, to areas – such as the North-East and Yorkshire – that have refused a Manchester-style ‘metro mayor’.

I wonder whether Northern voters believe shaking up Westminster’s rules is enough to make the UK “democratic and accountable”?

By this point in the campaign, party staff have been working round-the-clock for weeks and can barely remember their families’ faces. They are, frankly, knackered.

Perhaps this exhaustion explains the mother-of-all-cock-ups which saw Labour claim the tragic deaths in the Mediterranean were a “direct result of the failure of post conflict planning for Libya”?

A briefing note went much further than Ed Miliband did in his speech – clearly blaming David Cameron for migrant deaths - and saw Labour accused of being “desperate and shameful”.

What Mr Miliband wanted to do was argue he would spend more on defence….

Apparently, a poll found Boris Johnson is the politician most married women have had a fling with. Sorry, that should be that women would like to have a fling with.

Perhaps the blonde bombshell’s sex appeal can make the difference on the doorstep? To laughter, he replied: “I don't think it's going to be the fulcrum on which this election is going to turn.”

As I said earlier, running for office is exhausting beyond measure….so hats off to five candidates who are also running the London Marathon on Sunday.

Here, the Conservatives thrash Labour with four ex-MPs in the race – Graham Evans (Weaver Vale), Richard Drax (South Dorset), Edward Timpson (Crewe and Nantwich) and Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) – versus only Dan Jarvis (Barnsley).

(Bad) Joke of the Day: Labour’s Stephen Pound: “He’s gone from Red Ed to Bed Ed overnight!”

Gaffe of the Day: ……whoever wrote and sent out that Labour note on Libya, linking Mr Cameron’s policies with the “tragic scenes this week”.