Our Constitutional Court has, at last, ordered a remedy for the arithmetically incorrect results of our last general election.

Putting a packet of votes in the wrong pigeon hole or losing some votes between counts is, of course, unpardonable but, with the greatest care in the world, a system which is arithmetically faulty will keep giving faulty results.

For donkey’s years I have been saying this after every election, with or without blundering and/or gerrymandering.

We now have a palliative remedy that eventually, and rather expensively, redresses the balance in due course.

A journalist of this newspaper asked whether this is the “least noxious and disruptive remedy”. I would say it is not.

We use the STV (single transferable vote) system, which is probably the best system all round, but we adopt the ‘Droop Quota’ (1/number of seats + 1) which is supposed to be slightly quicker in the counting but often gives ‘perverse’ results.

I have written several times that the more straightforward ‘Hare Quota’ (1/number of seats) is certainly arithmetically superior and narrows the margin for ‘perverseness’ in the results.

Corrections, administrative or otherwise – in the present case six extra members – come at considerable added costs in terms of honoraria, pensions, staff, allowances, overheads and ancillaries.

Let’s hope the new building can take it.

Perhaps with sitting orders instead of standing orders!