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30 Apr, 2015 11:32

Leadership fail: Clegg, Farage, Murphy & Bennett won’t be elected, figures suggests

Leadership fail: Clegg, Farage, Murphy & Bennett won’t be elected, figures suggests

Four leaders of the biggest parties in Westminster are set to either lose their seats or fail to be elected at all in the upcoming general election, the latest figures suggest

The leaders of UKIP, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Scottish Labour are all expected to trail in second place on polling day.

Prospects are looking bleak for Nigel Farage in South Thanet, while Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg looks likely to lose his seat to Labour, the Lord Ashcroft poll suggests.

Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), is not standing for a seat in Westminster.

Meanwhile, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett is not the favorite to win for the Holborn and St Pancras seat in central London.

The results suggest only the Tories and Labour will maintain leaders who sit in the House of Commons as MPs.

READ MORE: Mili-brand: Comedian grills Labour boss in new episode of ‘The Trews’

Scottish Labour, however, are facing a devastating election with leader Jim Murphy set to lose his seat after an Ipsos Mori poll showed the SNP could win in every Scottish constituency.

Farage has pledged to quit as UKIP leader if he loses the battle for South Thanet to Conservative candidate and previous MP Craig Mackinlay.

Other pollsters Ipsos Mori, which two weeks ago gave Labour a lead of two percentage points, showed on Thursday the Tories are leading by five points and are predicted to be the largest party after polling day.

The polls have consistently shown a very small margin between the two biggest parties, but in recent weeks the trend has suggested a miniscule lead for Labour.

Despite suggestions the Conservatives will hold the most seats, figures still predict Ed Miliband will hold the balance of power when it comes to forming a government.

It remains unlikely any of the parties will win enough seats to form a single party majority government. Miliband and Cameron will need to court the support of smaller parties to be able to control the House of Commons.

Four smaller parties – the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the DSLP – have already said they would vote against a Tory government. Analysis by the Guardian suggests that combined with Labour, the total bloc of 331 seats would be enough to rule out Cameron.

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