Summary

  • The general election campaign is officially under way

  • Parliament has dissolved and MPs have officially reverted to being members of the public

  • David Cameron urged voters to keep him in power to finish the job of turning the economy around

  • Ed Miliband launched his party's business manifesto and warns of the risks of an EU referendum

  • Nick Clegg would not say if his party would block an EU referendum if it entered another coalition with the Tories

  • There are 38 days until the general election

Live Reporting

Angela Harrison, Marie Jackson, Catherine McGowan and Tom Moseley

  1. SNP 'poised'

    Norman Smith
    Assistant political editor

    The SNP look poised to deliver a lot of Labour scalps in Scotland. The Scottish National Party, which is in power in Edinburgh, has a huge activist base and experience of actually running a government and making decisions, he adds.

  2. Campaign kicks off

    Ed MilibandGetty

    A very chipper-looking Ed Miliband leaving home a short time ago.

  3. 'Fairer system'

    BBC News Channel

    Ken Livingstone

    After this election the pressure for proportional representation is going to be irresistible. It’s completely wrong that you might get a few million people voting for UKIP or the Greens and they only get one or two seats in parliament. You need a fairer voting system.

    Ken Livingstone, Former Labour London mayor

  4. Shapps arrival

    We've had plenty of four-legged visitors, but a short time ago, one of the human variety - Conservative chairman Grant Shapps - arrived in Downing Street.

    Grant ShappsGetty

  5. 'Final audience?'

    Norman Smith
    Assistant political editor

    David Cameron will leave Downing Street later for what could be his final audience with the Queen, if he is unsuccessful in the general election. The Queen will summon Parliament to return after the election on 18 May.

  6. On location

    BBC News Channel

    The BBC News Channel is spending the day in Birmingham looking at the economy. So let's take a look at a profile of the area:

    • The city and surrounding region is home to 75,000 companies, including almost 1,190 international firms
    • But in the constituency of Birmingham Ladywood the unemployment rate is 9%, compared with 6.6% nationally
    • 73% of those living in the constituency are from an ethnic minority
    • Turnout at the 2010 general election was 48.7% - the third lowest in the country
    BBC News Channel in Birmingham

  7. Political animals

    Another member of this morning's Downing Street menagerie.

    Fox in Downing StreetPress Association

  8. Labour and the SNP

    BBC News Channel

    The Spectator's political editor James Forsyth tells BBC News "Labour are terribly sensitive about this SNP question". The Conservatives will try to "brand" any deal between Labour and the SNP as an "illegitimate government" and paint the possibility of a vote-by-vote arrangement as a future in which Ed Miliband is "pushed around" by Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP could win 30 to 40 Scottish seats, he adds.