YOU can generally tell when an election is imminent. Politicians get terribly worked up about their opponents and seek to exploit every possible means of undermining their erstwhile foes.

So I was not awfully surprised when a press release from the opposition Labour group at County Hall arrived in my email inbox declaring grandly that it had submitted a motion – yes, press releases from politicians usually use such eye-catching language – of “no confidence” in Conservative council leader Paul Carter.

If permitted, this will debated at a council meeting on April 30 - which just so happens to be the last one to take place before the county council election on June 4.

According to Labour group leader Cllr Mike Eddy, the call of no confidence reflects the public’s mood. “Public comments on the internet and in the local media demonstrate clearly that the people of Kent have lost any faith they might once have had in Carter’s devalued regime,” he declares.

For good measure, he adds: “It would be a sad day for democracy if KCC’s embattled administration tried to prevent the quality of Carter’s leadership being debated in public”.

I am fairly sure that Cllr Carter can look after himself and will – if Labour does get its way – mount a characteristically robust defence of his administration.

Whether the prospect of this political knockabout at County Hall in a few weeks will further the interests of council taxpayers in any meaningful fashion and whether the absence of any debate will really be “a sad day for democracy” is, of course, a moot point.

*****

MEANWHILE, we eagerly await the launch of the Conservative election manifesto next Friday. I can give you the slogan the party will be using – it’s “Delivering Change – Improving Lives”. But sadly, I am not able at this point to reveal much more.

If you are wondering why we will have to wait until then, I may have an explanation.

Under election protocol, all councils enter a period of what is known as “purdah” in the run up to polling day, effectively preventing them from issuing press releases making announcements about decisions that might be construed as political – potentially giving the ruling party an unfair advantage. It will be interesting to see if this covers political blogs – some councils choose to suspend blogs of leading councillors during the purdah period.

For KCC, this six-week period of good news abstinence starts on April 28. Until then, the ruling administration at County Hall is free to announce what it likes. I rather suspect the ruling Conservatives have chosen to stay their hand to allow it the maximum time to do just that. I am standing by…

******

Interestingly, it seems the Conservatives are leaving nothing to chance. I spoke to two cabinet members today who both revealed they were speaking to me while out on the stump. One was in Canterbury, helping out a colleague who is regarded as vulnerable.

******

Meanwhile, there has been a deafening silence from the Liberal Democrats, who have yet to tell me anything about its manifesto plans or launch. Perhaps the party is waiting for the Conservatives to get theirs out of the way before entering the fray.