Election 2015: Hung parliament looms despite parties' final efforts to win majority

Britain's political party leaders entered the final stretch of their 2015 general election campaigns on Tuesday (5 May) barely 48 hours away from the closest election in a generation and with polls showing no straight majority for any party.

For British Prime Minister David Cameron campaigning began on Tuesday morning in north London with his conservative ally, London mayor Boris Johnson who is also running for parliament.

Thus far the party leaders have been criticised for running safe and lacklustre campaigns.

He rolled up his sleeves this time to shore up the liberal vote and hammer home the message that voters, whatever their political preference, should not vote for smaller parties.

''If you vote Liberal Democrat, you don't know what you are going to get. Nick Clegg was very clear at the weekend, he's just as likely to support an Ed Miliband-SNP government, that would bring the party to a juddering halt, than he is to support the Conservatives. So if you prefer me as your prime minister, don't leave it to chance. Vote Conservative, wherever you are,'' he said.

Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, was campaigning at a windy Land's End with party supporters. He argued the exact opposite promising to be the force of reason in any coalition.

''It's for the British people to decide, what combination of parties could form a government. Everybody can have their own views, but I think it is up to the British people to decide on Thursday. We are the servants of the voters, who in their millions will hopefully vote on Thursday. But what my great anxiety is if we lurch off to the right, lurch off to the left. Either excessive cuts on the one hand, or excessive borrowing on the other, then all the hard work to secure our economic recovery will be put at risk," he said.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, made a speech to party activists in Bedford. Reporters pushed Miliband to answer which other party he would govern with in any coalition agreement, or if he would attempt to form a government if his party had fewer seats than the Conservatives, the Labour leader said he's only focusing on Thursday's election.

''I'm going to show in the closing hours of this campaign, I'm going to fight every step of the way for our National Health Service. I'm going to fight every step of the way for working families, I'm going to fight every step of the way for a Britain that can do so much better than it can under David Cameron. Now, my opponents might want to start talking about the outcome of an election that hasn't happened. I'm going to focus on getting the right outcome out of that election for the working people of our country," he said.

Labour were level with the Conservative Party according to a Populus poll published on Tuesday, with a hung parliament looking like the most likely outcome from Thursday's (7 May) election. Miliband has previously ruled out working with the Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish National Party (SNP), who could hold the key to who will lead the next British government.

Clegg's Liberal Democrats have hinted that they would be prepared to work as part of either a Labour or Conservative coalition, if their conditions are met.