Making the Weather
Janan Ganesh is for me one of the top political commentators in the country: sharp, fair and bullshit-free in his regular columns for The Financial Times.
In this election special Janan highlights the fact that Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leaders is dominating an election she's not even standing in while making the political weather south as well as north of the border.
Quite remarkable, really.
The campaign now centres on a woman who is not standing for election. Nicola Sturgeon is invoked by the Conservatives as a threat to the union and English taxpayers. The prospect of her SNP propping up a minority Labour government is exercising voters in swing seats, according to testimony from both main parties. Even John Major, the last Tory to win a general election, raised the spectre in a speech this week. But if the budget, a manifesto and billions of pounds of promised tax cuts have not moved voters, will this? It is likelier that a Tory poll surge, if it ever comes, will happen when voters approach May 7 and focus on factors they already know: the party's leader and economic credentials.
See our top election stories below. Here is our free election story of the day to share - 'Sturgeon tries to woo voters across the UK' - by Mure Dickie in Edinburgh
By Janan Ganesh
FT Political Commentator
