Over to Exeter’s local rag, the Express and Echo’s packed election hustings, which generously featured all the candidates for the city’s parliamentary seat including socialists, Left Unity.

Here in achingly trendy Bristol West, however, Left Unity have been persistently refused access to hustings organised by among others the BBC and community paper the Bristol Cable.

This is because these nannying media organisations have decided for us that socialism just isn’t important any more and doesn’t need to be presented to their audiences.

Instead the left wing tradition in Bristol West has been allowed to be represented and traduced by Lib Dem voting Green Guardian reader, Darren “Fruitbat” Hall and his naive on-the-hoof, out-of-the-Grauniad hipster drivel.

Meanwhile back in Exeter, socialism, when allowed in front of an audience, seems to be showing some remarkable signs of life.

As the public arrived at the meeting, they voted in a straw poll. Labour’s sitting MP Ben Bradshaw came  top, followed by Dom Morris for the Conservatives while Left Unity were the least popular ahead of the hustings.

However, when a second straw poll was conducted as the audience left, the shock winner was – wait for it … Left Unity’s Edmund Potts!

The full results were: Left Unity 83, Labour 37, Conservatives 26, Green Party 10, Lib Dems 6, Undecided 5 and UKIP 3.

Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but a manipulative local media!