Ms Kirkbride said until the row blew up it had not occurred to her she had done anything wrong but said she wanted the Conservatives to have a "great result" at the next election and had to take into account "the effects on my family" of all the media coverage.

BBC: End MPs' golden goodbyes - Clegg

But everyone loses when the numbers are wrong -- even if the short-term result favors one political party over another.

CNN: Commentary: GOP wants a census we can count on