And they're off! (again!!)

So the election campaign has officially started. Although we all know that it has been unofficially being going on for the best part of three years. Ever since Brown stalled over the decision to go to the polls way back in 2007.

And what three years it has been! Despite announcing over 100 times (according to BBC Radio 5) that he has conquered over boom and bust, Gordon Brown was at the helm when we delved into the worst recession for almost 100 years.

At least we did enjoy a bit of cross party consensus in that three years. Just a shame it was a consensus on how to manipulate the MP expenses system to the detriment of the taxpayer, many of whom were in the process of being made redundant at the time.

So exactly who are we to trust with our vote in the forthcoming election? Well, we will get a glimpse in the upcoming “Leadership Debates”. Although not all the leaders are taking place and many of the issues they will be discussing are devolved in Scotland to the Scottish Parliament.

We could look at the latest ratings, which have Brown on –28, Cameron on +17 and unbelievably Clegg on +31.

Indeed this election could potentially be the beginning of something really big for the Lib Dems, despite my previous blog! Clegg’s popularity seems to keep growing and growing and that is even before he has taken to the stage in equal billing with Brown and Cameron. Vince Cable, their treasury spokesman, was one of the few people who came out of this recession with increased credibility. And they could be on the verge of holding the key to power in this general election should the Tories or Labour fall short of an overall majority. Although I think they will still do well to secure 16 MPs in Scotland.

Similarly, Alex Salmond is hoping his SNP MPs are the ones holding the key to power. However, getting to his target of 20 SNP MPs would be nothing short of a minor miracle.

The next 4 weeks are certainly going to be interesting and you can discuss it all at Our Scotland.