With the election hotting up faster than a pyroclastic flow someone has to get the blame for not being able to fly away from it all! Brown/Cameron/Clegg - select according to your political peccadillo.

The spread betters are now firmly in hung parliament territory. The current odds would give the Tories the most seats, but an overall minority of circa twenty. Labour and the Lib Dems would have around 300 between them so the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Ulster constituencies hold the whip hand. Guess who's wishing he hadn't signed up for televised debates? Thatcher and Blair both declined as they had almost certain majorities and the belief that debates could only do them harm, as Cameron is beginning to find out. The Lib Dems must be hoping there isn't a skeleton in Clegg's cupboard; something of a recurring nightmare for them; Jeremy Thorpe and Charles Kennedy to name but two

David Fuller's view The spread betting odds presumably reflect weight of money, which has swung away from a small Tory majority following fresh-face Clegg's 'win', as decreed by viewer polls following the first debate between leaders of the three main parties. With 16 more campaigning days and two more debates, the outcome appears uncertain. My guess is that undecided and floating voters are more likely to vote against rather than for someone and this would not favour the incumbent.