They never expected him to push for outright victory.

Outright victory was seen by many, including himself, as all but impossible.

While outright victory remains remote, there have been some encouraging developments in the past three weeks.

You could tell that some would be proud simply to have got into the finals; others ashamed of anything less than outright victory.

Opinion polls suggest no party will secure an outright victory, which means prolonged negotiations to form another coalition are likely.