Britain on course for THREE party coalition: Study of every seat reveals scramble for a majority as Clegg refuses to share power with Ukip
- Political commentator Iain Dale publishing prediction for every seat
- Study suggest labour will get 300 seats and the Conservatives 279
- Both parties would need the support of two other parties for a majority
- Lib Dem Nick Clegg rules out ever entering a coalition which included Ukip
- Dismisses claim that Lib Dems will lose half of their seats as 'silly'
- Green party leader Natalie Bennett refuses to join any power-sharing deal
- But poll in Scotland suggests Labour could face wipeout from SNP
Britain politics faces being plunged into chaos after the election, as a detailed study of seats across the country shows at least three parties would be needed to form a coalition.
Political commentator Iain Dale predicts Labour will win 300 seats and the Tories 279, but both would need at least two other parties to secure a majority of the 650 MPs in the Commons.
Today Nick Clegg ruled out ever sitting in a Cabinet with Ukip while Green party leader Natalie Bennett said her party would not join a power-sharing deal with anyone.
A study of every constituency in the country by political commentator Iain Dale reveals no two parties will be able to get over 325 seats to secure an overall majority
Mr Dale argues that national opinion polls offer no help in predicting what will happen at the election, because they cannot reflect what will happen in seats where four, five or even six parties are standing.
Instead he has spent recent weeks looking at every seat in the country, and using polling, local knowledge and 'sniffing the political wind' to predict what will happen in each constituency.
Writing in the Independent on Sunday, Mr Dale said: 'The truth is that this is the most unpredictable election in recent memory and for one very simple reason – for the first time in British political history, we're now in five party politics.
'For the first time ever it's conceivable that the joint vote share of the two main parties might be under 60 per cent.'
He predicts that the Tories will 'pile up votes in seats where they don't need them', suggesting Labour could get more seats but fewer votes.
The study confidently predicts that the Lib Dems 'will lose more than half of their seats', taking them to just 24. 'It could get even worse, although I reckon Nick Clegg will be safe in Sheffield Hallam,' he adds.
It means that even with the support of the Lib Dems, neither Labour nor the Tories would be able to form an overall majority.
A so-called 'Rainbow Coalition' would then need to be agreed involving three or more parties, which all leaders acknowledge will be incredibly unstable.
Mr Clegg today flatly ruled out at the idea of serving in a government with Nigel Farage which also included Ukip MPs.
Asked if he could imagine a power-sharing deal with Ukip, he told BBC One's Andrew Marr show: 'No. I just really cannot see how Nigel Farage and I could ever…'
It has been suggested that Labour could be forced to rely on SNP support to form a government.
But Mr Clegg also cast doubt on the Lib Dems entering power with the Scottish nationalists.
'I find it very difficult to imagine the circumstances in which I would do that,' he added.
Mr Clegg also ridiculed Mr Dale's prediction that the Lib Dems would lose half of their seats. 'Iain Dale will have to eat his words, because I really don't think that's going to happen. He's a good man but some of his predictions are getting a bit silly,' he said.
Ms Bennett insisted the Greens would have a big impact at the election, despite the forecast that the party would not gain any more MPs.
But she insisted that the Greens did not intend to be part of a formal coalition with any other parties
She told BBC One: 'We have very clearly said we're not looking towards a coalition, we're looking towards confidence and supply.
'So what that would mean, we would be able to vote vote-by-vote so we could vote against Trident and we would vote against Trident.'
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg today ruled out entering coalition with Ukip while the Green party's Natalie Bennett ruled out a power-sharing deal with anyone
A new poll suggests Labour is on course to lose half its 40 Scottish seats at Westminster in May.
The SNP could increase its seats from six to 35, according to an analysis of poll figures by The Sunday Times.
The Panelbase poll of 1,007 Scottish adults asked which way they would be likely to vote if there was a UK parliamentary election tomorrow.
The results, excluding don't knows, put the SNP on 41 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent, with the Conservatives on 14 per cent, Ukip on 7 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 3 per cent.
However, Mr Dale casts doubts on the idea of an SNP landslide of up to 40 seats, claiming they will get just 18 at best.
While Ukip and the Greens will take votes from the Tories and Labour, costing them marginal seats in many areas, they will not make huge gains, he says.
Mr Dale predicts Ukip winning only five seats and the Greens remaining on just one, the same number they got in 2010.