Interviewed in the Independent, Sam Younger, the chairman of the Electoral Commission, says politicians should be more open when they make mistakes.

"In every area of life, if you get something wrong, it is better to say sorry. In most cases, if you are ready to say sorry, you come out of it better," he said.

"If somebody is big enough to acknowledge that they have got it wrong, by and large people tend to respect that rather than see it as weakness."