Britain's political leaders launched personal attacks against each other today ahead of Thursday's parliamentary election, with opinion polls showing support growing for the opposition Conservative Party.
Although no new poll has indicated the centre-right Conservatives winning an outright majority, ruling Labour's 13 years in power appears set to end.
The party which swept to power in an overwhelming victory under Tony Blair in 1997 faces coming a humiliating third place on May 6th in the popular vote behind the much smaller Liberal Democrats.
Conservative leader David Cameron called Labour prime minister Gordon Brown a "shrunken figure", while Mr Brown likened Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to a "TV gameshow" presenter.
An Angus Reid opinion poll for the Sunday Express newspaper put Conservative Party support at 35 per cent, 12 points ahead of third-placed centre-left Labour. Although the pollster has tended to score Labour lower, the survey adds to four polls yesterday indicating growing Conservative backing.
"I think we've got some momentum now..." Conservative leader David Cameron said in a BBC interview today.
No polls have the Conservatives with enough to win outright, indicating a coalition government as the most likely outcome, a a rarity in Britain with its first-past-the-post electoral system, and a situation not seen since 1974.
The financial markets have been nervous about a such a coalition administration or a minority government, fearing an uncertain period of horse-trading at a time of a record budget deficit of more than 11 per cent of GDP.
In an interview in the Observer newspaper, Mr Brown admitted Labour was the "underdog", and today was on a 10 stop tour around London.
"I'm fighting for my life, but i'm not fighting for myself, i'm fighting for the British people," he said at a south London community centre.
The third-largest party, the centrist Liberal Democrats, or Lib Dems, have gained in popularity after leader Nick Clegg gave polished performances in a series of US-style television debates, and his support could be key in a coalition government.
But there was little sign of any overtures by political leaders to their rivals, as all three parties insisted they were focusing on winning a clear majority.
"We're talking about the future of our country. We're not talking about who's going to be the next presenter of a TV gameshow," Mr Brown said of Mr Clegg in the Observer.
Mr Cameron in turn launched an attack on Mr Brown.
"And what a shrunken figure Gordon Brown now cuts. Once hailed as an economic colossus and political genius, he resorts to desperate smears and hysterical scares," Mr Cameron said in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
Mr Clegg told the Independent on Sunday that a majority Conservative government would be run by a "clique" of people with "vested interests".
Still unclear is where, when and how deeply each party intends to slash public spending, with deep cuts expected whoever wins. Wary of scaring voters, politicians have so far only outlined a fraction of the cuts needed to rein in a budget deficit which could threaten Britain's AAA credit rating.
"It is incredibly challenging, there is no doubt about it ... I do accept that (plans announced) is still not enough to fill this enormous black hole left by Gordon Brown and Labour," Mr Cameron told the BBC today.
Reuters