We're off

So we are up and running.

The worst kept secret is out and we will go to the polls on the 6th May.

David Cameron usurps the Prime Minister minutes before he stands outside No 10 to tell the country that this election is about the great ignored and that it is all about "change, hope and a fresh start".

Gordon tells us that we are on the road to recovery and that nothing we do should jeopodise that and Nick Clegg says that this is the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown who as I write is off on the campaign trail heading it is reported to Kent.

Events looming on the horizon

Gordon is at the palace as I write this but there are a couple of stories doing the rounds this morning that may overshadow this campaign.

Teachers are threatening to take co-ordinated strike action with other public sector unions in protest at proposed cuts after the general election.

As the FT says in its leader this morning Is this the springtime of our discontent?

A warning though from the voice of business

The unions could, of course, strike in defence of their pay and their jobs. They could cause mayhem. But they should be wary: they would not attract sympathy from a de-unionised public. The generous pay increases of the past decade have left nurses, doctors and teachers well off. The state, moreover, is visibly out of cash.

The other being the rise in petrol prices.The only time that Tony Blair was visibly shaken was back in 2000 when tanker drivers held the country to ransom.If one thing could scupper the recovery it is the oil price.

Crude oil for May delivery hit a high of $85.89 a barrel at one point in New York trading the dearest since the peak of the financial crisis in October 2008.

The latest figures from the AA for last Wednesday before the latest duty hike came in showed average petrol pump prices at 118.07p per litre, with diesel at 118.67p a litre.

View from the marginals-A hung Parliament or damnright apathy

Despite the fact that the Tories have a lead over the other parties,the vagaries of the elctoral system in this country mean that the party has to do a great deal more to turn that into the majority of parliamentary seats.

It's the marginals that will swing the result of this election and the FT's Alex Barker has set out on a tour of them.Today it is the two seats in Dudley and the nearby marginal in Halesowen & Rowley Regis.

Here are his conclusions:

1.A mood is running against Labour but not with the Tories.

2.There is an unexpected yearning for a hung parliament and

3.There is very little excitement about the election.

Not bod

Public want Cable as Chancellor

An interesting new survey just out from Politics Home who have found that Vince Cable has emerged as the public's preferred choice to become the next chancellor.

Thirty one per cent polled said that Cable was the best candidate for the job whilst Ken Clarke was favoured by 16 per cent to return as chancellor.

Lagging well down the pecking order,George Osborne with 12 per cent and current Chancellor Alastair Darling.

"Put your trust in us and I will not let you down"

Perhaps today will be seen as the start of the election campaign.

Gordon tells his audience at Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf that

Our opponents build their policy on political ideology. Ours is a policy built on the experience of economic history. That is why we have rejected from the outset the laissez faire approach that would have let the recession take its course - and it is why we are investing now in the industries of the future."

The message is essentially put your trust in us and I will not let you down adding that

we avoided adepression not by accident, but by design; by learning from the mistakes made and experience gained in previous recessions and making tough but necessary decisions.

At the same time framing the battle he announced that there will be pay freezes for doctors, dentists and hospital consultants as well as senior managers across most of the public sector.

At the same time confirming the budget will be on 24th March