General Election 2015, Day One of the unofficial campaign: Live And theyre off: the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats set out their stalls 4 54 0 0 58 Email Polling station in Eastleigh There are now just 121 days until polling day on May 7 2015 Photo: Getty Images Rosa Prince By Rosa Prince9:01AM GMT 05 Jan 2015 COMMENTARYKEY MOMENTS This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off • The three largest political parties are all holding events to kick off the New Year – and the start of the unofficial general election campaign • Nick Clegg is first out of the traps, and will say a vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for another coalition • Five Conservative Cabinet ministers will launch a dossier accusing Labour of planning to spend billions in unaffordable pledges in first year of office • Ed Miliband will urge his supporters to have four million conversations with voters on the doorstep Latest 09.50 As James has said, Labour are campaigning hard on the safe ground of the NHS. Here was Andy Burnham on the Today Programme this morning: Quote If the NHS stays on its current course it will be sunk by a toxic mix of cuts and privatisation. The Conservatives claim Mr Burnham is the only former health secretary to have privatised a hospital, an accusation he denies. Punch and Judy politics anyone? 09.42 The BBCs Norman Smith (he of Wigan Pier fame) has coined a phrase: Related Articles General Election 2015: Five Tory Cabinet ministers to unveil unprecedented attack on Labour plans for Government 05 Jan 2015 General Election 2015: Day One 05 Jan 2015 Vote LibDem for another Coalition, Nick Clegg says 04 Jan 2015 Ed Miliband wants to have four million conversations with voters to win general election 04 Jan 2015 09.36 Miliband also denied suggestions that he was avoiding campaigning in Scotland. Jim Murphy, the Labour leader north of the border, is due to announce later today a strategy to woo back the 190,000 voters who backed the SNP at the referendum. He will say: Quote Now they can decide whether to vote Labour to get rid of the Tories or to vote SNP and keep the status quo. At the general election these will be the most important voters in the UK.” 09.33 On BBC Breakfast Miliband insisted Labour had no uncosted plans, saying Conservative accusations were completely false. 09.27 Lord ODonnell, who as Gus ODonnell was the Cabinet Secretary, is one of the growing number who believe the election could have a quirky outcome. His theory, told to Sky News, is that the leader of whichever party emerges with the most votes after May 7 may not in the end become Prime Minister. Theres no constitutional requirement for that to happen, so it could well be that we do have a situation where the Prime Minister is leader of a party which has fewer seats than one of the others. 09.18 Every General Election is dominated by numbers. How billions would this party give to what, how many thousands of our money would they take from our pay packets? Heres what we know so far about the parties and their own numbers. 09.13 James Kirkup has a few thoughts on the start of the campaign: The heartless Tories would close the NHS. The feckless Labour Party would bankrupt the country. Repeat ad infinitum and ad nauseum. That is the general election so far. Its traditional stuff from the traditional parties. And thats surely a problem for both. The big story of British politics right now is the decline of the big parties. They used to take 95 per cent of all votes cast. These days they struggle to get 65 per cent. Ukip, Greens, nationalists and still the Lib Dems - all are drawing people away from the big two. Why? There are as many reasons as there are parties. Its not obvious that Ukippers and Greens have much in common when it comes to policies. But when it comes to their view of politics and politicians, supporters of the insurgent parties often sound rather similar: theyre sick of broken promises, sound bites, Westminster weasel wordplay and pointless pointscoring. So the big question of todays campaigning, and likely of many days more to come: does the Tory vs Labour/NHS vs spending pantomime reverse the decline in support for the big two parties, or accelerate it? Put it another way: If you were not planning to vote Conservative or Labour before today, would the opening campaign salvos persuade you to change your mind? 09.09 Miliband has been tweeting too. Heres his big idea for the day: 09.06 Ed Miliband has been out and about early this morning. He told BBC Radio 5 Live he absolutely sees himself as a Prime Minister in waiting, and reinforced the message on BBC Breakfast, saying his Labour colleagues backed him and wanted him to succeed. Hmmm. 09.01 The Liberal Democrats will be the first to set out their plans – Nick Clegg is holding a press conference at his partys Westminster headquarters. The Conservatives are next, with no less than five Cabinet ministers launching a dossier accusing Labour of unfunded pledges. And finally Ed Miliband takes to the stage in Manchester where he will hold a rally for supporters and urge them to hold four million conversations with voters on the doorstep. No sign of Ukip, although Nigel Farage was on the Sunday political television programmes yesterday. 09.00 Good morning and welcome to the first day of General Election 2015! Its going to be a long 121 days, but well do our best to keep you up to date with all the twists and turns in what is shaping up to be the most fascinating – and unpredictable – campaign for a generation. General election 2015 News » Politics » Conservative » Labour » Liberal Democrats » In General Election 2015 David Cameron posed for a selfie with Conservative Womens Hub member Parveer Hasan The Tory Conference David Cameron General Election 2015: who will win? 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The heart-racing spectacle took place at the Womens Highline Meeting in the Czech Republic, which Faith organises each year. Faith, from Austin in Texas, USA, was joined by adrenaline junkies Basia Sobanska 27 and Ela Ostrowska, 26, who wore their own accessories. 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