Sketch: Don't vote for 'joke candidates'... says John O'Farrell He moved on past the swings, his balloons bobbing along behind. A reporter asked about Margaret Thatcher. In 1998, Mr O'Farrell wrote that, when the IRA struck Brighton, he'd felt "disappointed" Mrs Thatcher hadn't been killed. That, Mr O'Farrell insisted to the reporter, had merely been "a fleeting dark thought," and in fact he'd only mentioned it as a way of saying, "Isn't hatred a bad thing?" Certainly a bad thing when it bites your election hopes on the bottom three decades later. He told another mother about Ed Miliband's favourite catchphrase, "the millionaires" tax cut." "Rich people don't need a tax cut," he said. They spend it on houses in Tuscany. Having exhausted the possibilities of the play park, Mr O'Farrell hit the streets. As fate would have it, he almost immediately bumped into Polly Toynbee, the Left-wing newspaper columnist who happens to own a house in Tuscany. The two enjoyed a warm, supportive chat. I don't think the subject of her Tuscan house came up. Voting Lib Dem is helping the Tories! Mr O'Farrell warned Lib Dem supporters. Given that the Lib Dems are the Tories" closest rivals in Eastleigh, with Labour likely to finish miles behind, you might have imagined that in fact the best way of "helping the Tories" would be to tell people not to vote Lib Dem. But apparently not. Confusing things, elections. An aide directed him towards two young women. Very young. Clearly-under-the-voting-age young. They didn't look ideal constituents to canvass, but Mr O'Farrell made the best of it. "I'm trying to meet as many people who can't vote as possible!" he told them cheerfully. Are you interested in politics? "What?" said one of the girls. On the next street some teenage boys were slouching on a bench. "You 18?" asked Mr O'Farrell. One of the boys shook his head but said nothing. "You think we're boring politicians in suits, don't you!" joshed Mr O'Farrell, in the manner of a jovial uncle. The boy remained silent. Another of the boys quietly confessed to being 18. "Vote for me!" cried Mr O'Farrell, shaking the boy's hand vigorously. You've met me! And off he strode, his balloon-wielders scampering to keep up. What can you say? The joke candidates are fine. They brighten up the election process.