With all the excitement of the election, it’s easy to get carried away in the high drama (and the jargon). However, at the level of ordinary mortals, life is not all TV cameras and shiny Jags.

Personal insolvencies for the first quarter of this year have rocketed to 35,682, an increase of 17.9% on the same period a year ago.

Figures released today by the Insolvency Service revealed that while bankruptcies were down 10.7% on the same quarter last year, individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) had jumped 20.1% to 11,782.

And Louise Brittain, partner in Deloitte’s Contentious Insolvency Group predicts that the figures will keep rising.

Deloitte: “I expect the number of IVAs to rise substantially. We will see an increasing number of high net worth individuals filing for bankruptcy, particularly as personal guarantees on corporate debt are called in. Personal insolvency figures have yet to peak, and unfortunately I can only see them continuing to rise.”

Which makes one wonder why politicians are fighting for the helm of this Titanic.