If you think the 2010 general election campaign is going to be long…

… just be glad you didn’t live a hundred years ago. For the first 1910 general election, triggered by a constitutional crisis over the House of Lords, Parliament was prorogued on 3 December 1909 and the final day of voting (polling took place across several days) was on 10 February, 10 weeks later. Oh, and then there was a second general election later in the year.