Final clutch of Sunday newspaper opinion polls before election day suggests Britain is still heading for a hung parliament. In each case the Conservatives have the edge, but they could be anything up to 60 seats short of a bare overall majority, if the reported percentages were repeated with a uniform national swing on Thursday.
Further details and party-by-party seat projections are available at www.charter2010.co.uk.
Seat projections for the Charter 2010 Hung Parliament Index are made on a “straight swing” from Labour to Conservative basis. This election appears to have become a real three-horse race and there will in reality be a range of net swings from Lab to Con and from Lab and Con to LibDem – so it becomes increasingly difficult to predict precise seat outcomes.
Our instinct is that (although the electoral system undoubtedly does work against them) this calculation may now be underestimating the Lib Dem capacity to hold and win seats with the poll numbers where they are. What is certain is that we are still firmly in the Hung Parliament Zone.
“In this election every vote counts the greater the number of Liberal Democrat MPs and the larger to size of our vote will give the Liberal Democrats the greatest possible mandate to really change Britain for the good. And only voting for the Liberal Democrats will bring about this change. So please vote on Thursday, vote positively for a fairer and greener Britain and vote Liberal Democrat”