The general election campaign in pictures

Chancellor Alistair Darling debates with his Conservative shadow George Osborne in a BBC news television interview near parliament Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/guardian.co.uk Gordon Brown meets local people at a community centre in Stevenage Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk Conservative party leader David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson pose with Chelsea Pensioners during a visit to The Royal Chelsea Hospital Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/guardian.co.uk Nick Clegg speaks to the waiting media as he visits a residential centre, Plas Bryn, in Cardiff Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images Photograph: Matt Cardy/guardian.co.uk United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member Nigel Farage takes a cigarette break as he campaigns in Winslow Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/guardian.co.uk Prime minister Gordon Brown speaks to economists at the Michael Faraday Theatre in London watched by business secretary Lord Mandelson and Labour candidate Gloria del Piero Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/guardian.co.uk Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah speak to members of the public during a phone bank session at Labour party headquarters Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images Photograph: Carl Court/guardian.co.uk David Cameron poses for photographs with students during an election visit to the Globe Academy in Bermondsey, in London Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, and Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, meet party activists at a local campaign office in Brent, London Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk Actor Michael Caine speaks during a news conference with David Cameron and Michael Gove, shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families Photograph: Susannah Ireland/The Independent Photograph: Susannah Ireland/guardian.co.uk Gordon and Sarah Brown meet community staff and local residents at Bromley-By-Bow community and health centre in east London Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/guardian.co.uk Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader, and former leader Charles Kennedy join the general election campaign trail in Glasgow Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/guardian.co.uk The Conservative party campaign bus waits in a side street in Leeds for the start of the Tory election campaign as two girls gesture to the camera Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Furlong/guardian.co.uk The Conservative party leader, David Cameron, speaks to nurses during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Edgbaston Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Labour supporters hold placards and anti-Tory leaflets on the streets of Cardiff in Wales Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Photograph: Ben Birchall/guardian.co.uk A dog looks out from a door as Scottish Labour party leader, Iain Gray, left, and the secretary of state for Scotland, Jim Murphy, canvass homes in Gilmerton, Edinburgh Photograph: David Moir/Reuters Photograph: David Moir/guardian.co.uk Annabel Goldie MSP, right, is joined on the election campaign bus by Liam Fox MP, left, and Jason Rust, second left, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Edinburgh South in Edinburgh Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/guardian.co.uk Peter Hain, the Labour MP for Neath, speaks on the streets of Cardiff, where he launched the Welsh Labour general election campaign Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Photograph: Ben Birchall/guardian.co.uk David Cameron speaks to patient Chris Stiles during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Edgbaston Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Supporters of prospective parlimentary candidate Janice Small wear rosettes as they wait for party leader David Cameron to speak at Leeds City Museum Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Furlong/guardian.co.uk Jim Murphy, centre, and Iain Gray, left, campaign in the Ferniehill Estate in Edinburgh Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/guardian.co.uk Cameron speaks to party faithful at Leeds City Museum as the Tory election campaign gets under way Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, gestures as he speaks to young people in Watford Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters Photograph: Luke Macgregor/guardian.co.uk Harry Keane awaits the arrival of Gordon Brown at his house in Rainham in Kent Photograph: Mark Large/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Large/guardian.co.uk Prime minister Gordon Brown and wife Sarah arrive meet residents on the first day of campaigning in Gillingham, in Kent Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/Getty Images Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/guardian.co.uk Cameron works on a train from Birmingham to Leeds Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Brown talks to staff at Aylesford Newsprint, paper manufacturers near Maidstone in Kent Photograph: Ben Gurr/Getty Images Photograph: Ben Gurr/guardian.co.uk Clegg leaves St Luke's church hall after talking to a group of young adults Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Photograph: Dan Kitwood/guardian.co.uk Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah, visit Aylesford Newsprint, paper manufacturers near Maidstone in Kent Photograph: Ben Gurr/Getty Images Photograph: Ben Gurr/guardian.co.uk Former deputy prime minister John Prescott on his Labour battle bus at Carlisle train station. He will be visiting 50 key marginal seats in a 4,000-mile tour Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Photograph: Owen Humphreys/guardian.co.uk David Cameron addresses an audience at the Warburtons bread factory in Bolton Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Leon Neal/guardian.co.uk Gordon Brown gets into his car after making a speech at Centre Point in central London Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Ben Stansall/guardian.co.uk John Prescott addresses Labour supporters in Dumfries, Scotland, on his battle bus tour Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/guardian.co.uk