It’s election time and I am in pursuit of an old familiar Elf (http://tinyurl.com/pxljot6). I have pursued this Elf in five general elections until now, trying to read his feather-light footprints as they skip in dirt tracks, crawl through dark tenements without electricity, wait in front of taps that have run dry or hide in forests, hoping for guns to fall silent. My elusive quarry at election time, the Elf of Self-Respect.