After weeks of bickering, but little debate, we are now on the homeward stretch of an extremely tiring general election campaign.

The party manifestos have been out for weeks and voters have heard pretty much all they are going to hear from political leaders now the last TV “debate” is over. On Thursday we head to the polls no better informed that we were at the start of the campaign.

In reality, we could have had the vote weeks ago. The direction each of the parties would take in this election was set a long time ago. The Conservatives decided they would present themselves as strong on the economy; Labour opted to campaign on protecting welfare; the Lib Dems set out to highlight the difference they’ve made in government; UKIP unsurprisingly decided to take any opportunity they could to take a swipe at Europe.

Things have been so stage-managed in this election campaign that there has been little scrutiny on the big issues.

The first TV “debate” involving leaders from seven political parties was hardly a debate at all. It was little more than media savvy politicians delivering a series of set-piece and well-rehearsed statements. With so many people involved, there simply wasn’t time for any point to be properly debated. Instead of providing any clarification, I think the programme probably confused voters more than anything else.

Last week’s Question Time special brought more scrutiny and direct challenges from the audience, but it was pretty pathetic that David Cameron wouldn’t share the stage with Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg.

Political rallies up and down Britain have also been complete jokes. Rather than meeting “real people”, Cameron, Miliband and others have spent most of their time with flag-waving party members who don’t do or say anything that would upset the leaders. Robert Mugabe or Kim Jong-Un would be proud of the slick organisation we’ve seen so far in the hustings.

How different it was in previous campaigns. Last time round Gordon Brown called Mrs Duffy a bigot for challenging him. In other years John Prescott ended up punching someone and eggs were thrown at politicians.

But despite the dull campaign we have seen this year, TV stations and newspapers have largely been intent on leading with election stories (although there was a brief break to cover the Nepal earthquake and of course the Royal baby birth). The former has followed such a dry formula whereby they manufacture a “row” on a daily basis on a particular issue. One day it is NHS, the next it is over the economy.

And then of course everyone was up in arms with Miliband for going to film a YouTube video with Russell Brand. Was this sort of nonsense ever going to help voters decide what party would be best for Britain?

Thank goodness this election campaign is nearly over and life can now return to some sense of normality. Or will it?

Post election negotiations over forming a coalition could go on for some time – some commentators say weeks – but at least politicians won’t be appealing to the the public for their vote on a daily basis, and the talks will take place behind closed doors. Whether we like it or not, soon the future of the country will be out of our hands.