Party leaders in final push for hearts and minds
The three main party leaders in Britain are embarking on a final frenetic day of campaigning in a bid to push up their vote.
Tony Blair, William Hague and Charles Kennedy will travel hundreds of miles, in an attempt to communicate with as many voters before polling day.
Mr Hague is using just about his last big speech of the campaign to send out the message that the forces of conservatism - reviled by Tony Blair in his 1999 Labour Party conference speech - were back on the march.
The Tory leader was boosted by an ICM poll showing his party cutting back Labour's lead from 19 points to 11 points over the past week - although it will still translate to a Labour majority of around 180.
Addressing supporters in London, he is issuing an appeal to "ordinary, decent people" who may have voted Labour in 1997 but had been angered by Mr Blair's attempts to blame them for his failure to keep his own promises.
Mr Hague's itinerary began with a 6am breakfast with meat traders in London's Smithfield Market and he will take in visits to Winchester and Hemel Hempstead, a rally in Scarborough and a final speech in his Richmond constituency in Yorkshire.
Mr Blair, who is campaigning in England, Scotland and Wales, began his day with broadcast appearances on GMTV and the BBC's Election Call before a final press conference in the Labour marginal of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire.
He is repeating calls for the maximum possible turn out, urging voters to "put their cross on their ballot paper for continued economic stability in the coming years and to put schools and hospitals first".
Mr Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, is also spending the day on the move, with campaign appearances in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset, Cheadle in Cheshire, and Edinburgh, pushing his core messages on pensions and public services.
"If you want more investment in education and pensions, you have to vote Liberal Democrat. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to investing properly in our young people and giving our older people the dignity they deserve," he is expected to say.
