I have been doing street corner meetings for the last few weeks across all the suburbs of Wellington Central.  We take out the Labour van, equipped with speakers, and park up for a talk from me, and questions and answers.  They are a lot of fun.  Attendance is pretty weather dependent, but on a sunny evening a dozen people will come out, and have a listen.  This does not include the ‘curtain twitchers’, who look on from the comfort of home.  The real feature of the meetings  this election has been the wind.  Tonight, in Wilton,  it was fierce.  My apologies to the poor person who ended up with a small sign briefly attached to their windscreen after it parted company with the person holding it!   Our final effort tonight, right up the top of Northland, came to an abrupt end when another sign took flight, narrowly avoiding decapitating the candidate, and leading to a mad cap chase down the road from the hardy volunteers who were with me.  The great thing is that even tonight people came out to talk.  Interestingly in two different streets the key topic was investing in research and science.  It is indeed a vital part of our future as a country, and it is a priority for Labour.  National’s lack of commitment to Fast Forward and the R and D Tax Credit is a testament to their short term focus, and at least for these voters it is a major issue.