General Election campaign begins...

It's general election time in the UK again, and this, along with the World Cup, is one of the big events of the year. I've always had some interest in politics, but there are long periods of boredom with only the occasional interesting happenings. This election is shaping up to be very interesting, it is a full 5 years since the last one (the legal maximum gap) and it's been 13 years since we had a realistic prospect of a change in government. It's been even longer since there was any real doubt as to the outcome - you have to go back to 1992 for that, and since the first general election I could vote in was 2001, it's the first really interesting election I've been able to participate in. I just missed out on being able to vote in the 1997 election, though my parents allowed me to stay up all night to watch, and it really was exciting stuff as the Labour party won by the biggest landslide in modern times.

For any non-British readers, or British readers who don't know anything about our UK politics, a brief summary. The UK is a parliamentary democracy, so you vote for a party, not a prime minister. The country is divided into 650 constituencies (4 more than last time), and voters in each constituency vote for an MP for that constituency. There will be candidates from all the major parties in each constituency, and the candidate with the most votes becomes the MP for that constituency. To form a government, you generally need more than 50% of the MPs in parliament, so at least 326. Labour currently has a majority of 48, and to get a majority the Conservatives need about 130 more seats this time.

The major political parties are:

Labour - currently in government, leader is Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Historically party for working classes but 'New Labour' in the mid-1990s changed all that and blurred the dividing lines between parties.

Conservatives - the second biggest party, with around 200 seats in the current parliament. Leader is David Cameron. They are ahead in the polls, so have a good chance of getting elected. Traditionally the party of the middle classes, they believe in smaller government, greater partnership with private sector etc.

Liberal Democrats - the third party, with 62 seats in parliament this time. Leader Nick Clegg, but Vince Cable, their equivalent of Chancellor of the Exchequer is very popular. Realistically cannot win a majority, but could hold the balance of power if there is a hung parliament.

Green Party - green/environmental party. Currently no seats in parliament.

UK Independance Party - believes Britain should leave the EU. Has some following, but has no seats in Parliament.

British National Party - ultra right wing party, generally considered to be racist. Believe in 'repatriating' foreigners, encouraging people not native British born to leave. Some following in run-down areas, but no MPs in parliament.

Realistically, the chances of Green Party, BNP or UKIP getting m(any) seats very slim, due to first past the post system (they may receive a reasonable share of the popular vote, but spread to thin to win seats in constituencies).

So there is a good chance of a change in government, a good chance of a hung parliament (where no party has an overall majority), but no one knows. If a hung parliament, no one knows what will happen but it will be a mess - hasn't happened since the early 1970s.

I live in Lancaster, which is the 81st most marginal seat, and one the Conservatives must win if they are to be elected. So a battleground state!