I’m a floating voter. Wes Streeting has my attention, but

The country is sick of the Tories. The opposition promises change, but is too terrified to articulate what that might entail

This is the wail of the floating voter. I start every election a deliberate floater. An open mind staves off tedium. The only alternative is going on holiday. For a radical, to float is also to enjoy a moment of hope. Might there be, somewhere in the dark cloud of current politics, just a glimmer of light?

In their first week or so, most election campaigns hit rock bottom. So far in this one there are still no manifestos. Tuesday’s TV debate was truly ghastly. Rishi Sunak deployed the Brexit leaver’s tactic of twisting statistics. Keir Starmer’s pitch amounted to little more than a new feeder for the Downing Street cat.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist