Election 2015: Day at-a-glance

A daily guide to the key stories, newspaper headlines and quotes from the campaign for the 7 May general election.

The prime minister sought to paint a picture of sunnier uplands

Day in a nutshell

• David Cameron set out his vision to guarantee a "good life" for British workers and families, as he launched the Conservatives' election manifesto

• He unveiled new plans to extend the right-to-buy scheme for social housing tenants in England, to keep minimum wage workers out of tax and to double free childcare

• The Greens also set out their election policies, pledging to "take back" the NHS from the private sector and calling for a "peaceful political revolution" to end austerity and tackle climate change

• UKIP set out its housing policies, and said uncontrolled immigration was putting pressure on housing demand

• Scottish leaders continue campaigning during a week dominated by manifesto launches

• Ashcroft and Populus opinion polls put both the Conservatives and Labour on 33%

• The latest inflation figures saw the consumer price index unchanged at 0%.

Follow all the reaction, key points and analysis on our rolling Election Live page.

Visit our at-a-glance guide to the Conservative manifesto here, and to the Green Party's here.

Tuesday's newspaper headlines

• The Telegraph focuses on the Conservatives' manifesto launch, saying David Cameron will set out they are "the true party of working people"

• A Conservative pledge to extend the right-to-buy housing scheme for social housing tenants is an attempt by Mr Cameron to move the Tory campaign on from "its focus on the deficit and personal attacks" on Ed Miliband, the FT says

• The i characterises the right-to-buy policy as a "giveaway" and a "return to Maggie's stomping ground"; it notes that there are fears over the loss of social housing stock if the policy is enacted

• David Cameron hopes that the policy will appeal to working class voters in key marginal seats, says The Times

A brighter future?

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson has been blogging about David Cameron's manifesto launch in Swindon.

He writes: "Today the Tory leader tried to re-discover the rhetorical "sunshine" he was once associated with - with his promise to deliver the 'Good Life' in a country which he claimed was on the 'brink of something special'.

"So, gone is the 'age of austerity'. Gone too the warnings of red flashing lights on the dashboard. Gone all talk of difficult decisions."

For the political parties, they are the key to power. But for social media devotees, manifesto launches present another opportunity to poke fun. The BBC's Kerry Alexandra takes a look at the online reaction.

Confused about how a new British government is formed? The BBC's Rob Watson has set out to explain the process.

Key quotes

Prime Minister David Cameron: "At the heart of this manifesto is a simple proposition: we are the party of the working people offering you security at every stage of your life."

Labour leader Ed Miliband: "The Conservatives are claiming they can fund right-to-buy with a bounced cheque."

Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg: "It's a measure of how the Conservatives have run out of new ideas that on the day they publish their manifesto their big idea is a poor cover version of one of Margaret Thatcher's 1980s hits."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage: "It's a re-hash of so much that was said in 2010 and has not been delivered upon, with a new initiative on housing which will do nothing to guarantee those homes go to British people or solve our housing crisis - and perhaps most worryingly of all no commitment to Britain's defence whatsoever."

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon: "Tory policy over the past five years has penalised the poorest people in our society. It's penalised women with children, the disabled, the vulnerable and, of course, it hasn't even worked on its own terms."

Green leader Natalie Bennett on her party's manifesto: "This is a vision that sees the end of the disastrous policy of austerity that is making the poor, the disadvantaged and the young pay for the greed and the fraud of the bankers. And this is a vision that is exciting increasing numbers of Britons."

UK politicians are pulling out the stops to attract "the women's vote". But is it really possible to lump all female voters together, asks the BBC's Vanessa Barford.

Monday recap

It was a busy start to the week, with the launch of Labour's general election manifesto. If you didn't get a chance to follow the day's events, you can catch up with our at-a-glance report.

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