Contents May 2010

16GregDyke“It’s time for radical change and that could happen if we get a hung Parliament”

20EdMiliband“I’m not saying it’s going to be poetry, but I think manifestos rarely are”

50 36 26AdamBoulton“I desperately want the debates to succeed, to be useful and informative”

Esther Rantzen “As a politician I am never, ever going to say the easy thing”

Armando Iannucci “There’s not going to be dancing in the streets when Cameron gets in”

Features

Election night 43 Total Politics brings you an exclusive guide to election night – what to watch on TV, what to listen to on the radio and what to click online. Also check out our election quiz to keep you occupied through the long night. Consider yourself a political geek? Test your knowledge about elections past and present with our tricky election night quiz

Political pundits 16 Polly Toynbee, Greg Dyke, Quentin Letts, John Rentoul and Guido Fawkes are among the commentators willing to take a guess at the outcome of the 2010 general election Manifesto men 20 Amber Elliott talks to Ed Miliband, Oliver Letwin and Danny Alexander, the men behind the party manifestos

In conversation with Adam Boulton 26 Iain Dale talks to the Sky News anchor about whether the channel is becoming opinionated like Fox News and the much anticipated TV leaders’ debates

Swings and roundabouts 32 Robert Waller analyses the seats that have the potential for the most interesting results on 6 May

ELECTION

NIGHT SPECIAL

P43

Candidates to watch 36 Speaking to some of the most high profile potential MPs standing at this election, Joe Dyke finds out what inspired them to run for office now

Mocking the powerful 50 Armando Iannucci talks to Amber Elliott about the frustrating lack of outlets for jokes about politics

How the Commons really works 52 The Press Association’s Craig Woodhouse explains the realities of day-to-day workings of the House of Commons

ComRes survey 56 What qualities do MPs believe are most important to doing a good job as an elected representative? Ben Duckworth finds out

Local elections are also available 58 Local parties are rising to the challenge and using their manifestos to communicate a vision of their own to voters, according to Kate McCann

Total Focus The key policy battlegrounds Economy 62 Alistair Darling, George Osborne and Vince Cable Europe 64 Chris Bryant, Mark Francois and Edward Davey Sport 66 Ben Bradshaw, Jeremy Hunt and Don Foster Pensions 68 Yvette Cooper, Theresa May and Steve Webb Total Focus highlights 70 Ahead of the election, we review what the three main parties have said on key policy areas including business, health and crime