Labour: Tony Blair knows his chances of a triumphant return to Downing Street rest on one factor above all others - an ability to get his own apathetic supporters to the polling booth.

Therefore, its campaign will be aimed as much at boosting turnout by stressing 'Old Labour' achievements - the minimum wage, help for the poor - as it will be at attacking the Tories. Already, Chancellor Gordon Brown has been brought back from the wilderness to head up the campaign on the trump card of the economy, which will take centre stage. Blair will shun the traditional morning London Press conference in favour of the comfy sofas of daytime TV shows - watched by all those reluctant voters.

This "masochism strategy" will either show off Mr Blair at his charming, articulate best - or backfire disastrously as he is harangued by people sick of waiting for their hip operations.

One interesting thing to watch will be just how many struggling Labour MPs want the prime minister on their patch. Many would prefer the Chancellor - whose stock is on the rise.

That reflects continuing anger over the Iraq war, the issue Mr Blair would rather not talk about.

CONSERVATIVES

Michael Howard launched into two of his central campaign messages within minutes of the election being called - the chaos in the immigration system and unruly gipsies.

The Tory leader says he is determined to give voice to the real fears of ordinary people that are ignored by the liberal elite. Critics describe the strategy as 'Who can we hate today?'.

The problem for Mr Howard is that his chances rest on keeping the campaign focused on asylum, immigration and crime - the only issues on which his party is the more popular.

The Conservatives believed they would be on strong ground saying Britain's economic bubble was about to burst, with higher taxes around the corner. Those hopes went with the Howard Flight controversy, which exposed the divisions between Mr Howard and Tories desperate for bigger tax cuts and a smaller state.

Mr Howard will appeal to a forgotten majority, aiming in particular at pensioners who most fear rising crime and rising council tax bills - and who are most likely to bother to vote.

The Tories must win by six points to draw level on seats. It would be the greatest political comeback since Churchill.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Charles Kennedy is the one political leader certain to have something to celebrate - his wife is to due to give birth to their first child later this month.

The pregnancy threatens to disrupt the Lib Dem leader's campaign schedule, although his low-key approach makes it less of a problem than for it would be for the other two leaders.

Mr Kennedy will again hope to prosper from appearing above the fray of Labour-Tory bickering on grubbier issues such as asylum, immigration and travellers.

He has lined some voter-friendly policies - anti-war, anti-tuition fees, scrapping the council tax - designed to pick off disillusioned Labour voters.