Predictions

OK, this is a mug's game but as a bit of a geek it's incumbent on me to have a guess at what we'll wake up to on Friday morning:

1. Deep down I fear the Tories may get a small absolute majority, with their polls performance apparently hardening and the Lib Dems faltering. But in virtue of Brown's last stand I shall optimistically give the Conservatives 286 seats, leaving Labour on 254 and the Liberal Democrats on a healthy 81 seats, with about the same vote share as Labour.

2. Seats I'm personally interested in include Dudley South, which I'll call for the Tories; Gordon which will stay Lib Dem with a big swing to the SNP and a smaller one to the Tories; Aberdeen South, which I'll controversially return to Labour's Anne Begg; and Edinburgh South which Fred Mackintosh will take for the Lib Dems, with Labour dropping to third place.

3. As for the rest I am cautiously optimistic that enough Labour and LD voters will switch to the Greens to keep out the Tories in Brighton Pavilion, and that Poplar and Limehouse will be George Galloway's latest scalp. Ever the optimist, I will take a deep breath, cross my fingers, and predict an Adrian Ramsay rally, taking Norwich South for the Greens. I would have called Perth and North Perthshire for the Tories but their candidate seems to have been a little calamitous.