Having not written my blog for a couple of days – can’t for the life of me remember what I did Friday! Guess it was canvassing and delivering?

Did get several phone messages and emails about a negative letter from the Tory candidate. The recipients are so outraged by its over the top attacks on me that they get in touch to say they will be voting for me. Two of them say they are Tories – but are just totally disgusted with the Tory letter.

Early start on Saturday to hand deliver our ‘good morning’ leaflets to people who will be receiving their postal votes today. We meet crack of dawn and I do a swift four hours pounding the streets of Muswell Hill. You have to cover a lot of territory with only a few leaflets to be distributed in each road – but my campaign manager says it’s got to be done. So it was.

However, I only had a couple of hours sleep the night before as although I went to bed about half ten (knowing I had to get up at 5am), I had just fallen asleep when a friend rang and woke me up at about half eleven. Finally got back to sleep about 12.30pm only to be woken at about 1.30am by my two daughters saying it was urgent and serious and I must come at once.

They are shouting at me that it could kill us if it were to sting us. The ‘it’ turns out to be a hornet. I mumble something about just leaving it – but no – the girls drag me into the hall. And indeed it is HUGE and evil looking. Every time it shifts position, the girls scream and run into my room. Dawn will be here soon and I am feeling moderately desperate about the prospects of sleep.

We reach a Mexican stand-off with hornet flexing wings above the bathroom door and girls and me staring at it. I go to bed. Screams, thumps, running and more thumps. I get up. The beast is dead. Said hornet had temporarily flown to the floor – whereupon youngest daughter (brave) hit with shoe followed by Collins dictionary. It’s only 3am now …

Meeting fellow activists in M & S car park – I go off to do a sturdy four hours delivery. Much heartened in one street by bumping into a long time and active member of the Labour party who informs me that all three of them in her family will be voting for me and that they have left the Labour party altogether.

Afternoon sees hustings at the Alevi Cultural Centre in Hackney. There are nine candidates there from three constituencies. Language is a big issue for the community. Parents have great difficulty supporting their childrens’ education because – if they don’t speak English – they cannot engage properly with the system.

So the Alevi community ran language classes on a voluntary basis with a little funding from Hackney Council. But Labour cut the funding. The Labour hopefuls for Hackney (Diane Abbott and Meg Hillier) struggled with that one.

Then all the Labour candidates (including Roche and Lammy) were attacked over student tuition fees. They all nearly had apoplexy when I got the mike (not easy) and pointed out that they had promised last election not to introduce tuition fees and then had. Civilised veneers tumbled!

Afterwards, back to HQ. A quick rally of the troops – and then home. I try desperately to stay awake – but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!