EVERY election produces one unlikely star. It can be the colourful candidate of some eccentric fringe party, or the totally unpredictable victor in a previously safe seat.

But for 1997 step forward James McGuire Smith, returning officer for the Dumfries and Galloway and Upper Nithsdale seats.

Mr Smith, with such an unremarkable monicker, seemed determined to make a name for himself when he appeared in homes across the country early on Friday morning as the meanest martinet of counts.

When some exuberant Labour supporters started cheering as he announced the figure for Mr Russell Brown, their winning candidate, Mr Smith warned them to be quiet. ''We can sit here all night if we have to,'' he said.

BBC television presenter Kirsty Wark quipped: ''I'll bet he's a teacher in another life.''

It was the same story at the second count in the Dumfries hall, with noisy attendees threatened with firm action if they did not desist.

Mr Smith's robust attitude to infringements of his strictly enforced rules may also have attracted comment from the BBC's London-based presenters.

A clearly unapologetic Mr Smith responded yesterday morning, almost with a touch of pride: ''Someone did tell me there was a comment from David Dimbleby. My job is not to cater to TV companies - that is why I did not tell them I was ready to declare.''

In truth, Mr Smith, who incidentally is a lawyer, seems to regard the media's involvement in the democratic process as something of an irritation.

They are, he makes it abundantly clear, only there at his discretion and only if there is enough room for them. He tolerates them, provided they behave themselves.

''As you are aware you are not within the definition of those who are entitled to attend and as such I may consider using my discretion if I am of the opinion that the efficient counting of the votes will not be impeded,'' he wrote to all media requesting accreditation passes to counts.

Unlike many returning officers, he is a senior member of the Dumfries and Galloway Council's administration and not a chief executive.

He believes himself ''the most experienced returning officer in Scotland'' and declared Britain's first Euro-MP, the South of Scotland's Alastair Hutton.

He may now have earned a new accolade: the most talked-about returning officer in Britain.