Two weeks ago I went to a husting in the ultra-marginal seat of West Oxford and Abingdon. It's a constituency of about 80,000 with a Conservative majority of 176 at the last election, when the 30-year-old Nicola Blackwood defeated Lib Dem Evan Harris in a surprise result. Close to 300 people crowded into the church of St Peter and St Paul in Botley, nearly twice the margin of votes that swung the seat.
Like thousands of hustings taking place across Britain in this general election, it was intensely particular, human and local, without a television camera, minister, or spin-doctor anywhere near. But the more I have thought and talked about the evening, the more significant it seems to become - a tiny fragment of the election catching the light of transformations unfolding across the country.
