A CHAT with Education Secretary Ed Balls on my way home last night and the visits of Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth and Conservative leader David Cameron today prove that this is far from being an election fought from the bunkers of the party HQs as in previous campaigns.

Bolton West has already been identified as a key marginal seat and neither Labour, the Tories nor the Liberal Democrats will want to risk losing any ground from the beginning.

The papers this morning were interesting, each of the nationals spinning their own slant on yesterday's proceedings although only the obvious titles - The Sun, The Telegraph et al - have properly revealed their hand in terms of who they will be supporting.

Here at The Bolton News we'll continue to take a very fair and balanced view in terms of our coverage of the elections and with that in mind I had shared a pot of tea with the two Green Party candidates Alan Johnson and Rachel Mann yesterday afternoon.

Looking through the various parties' manifestos in recent weeks, it is becoming obvious that there is a choice for those disillusioned with the mainstream parties.

The Greens are attempting to shed their image of old and from speaking to their local candidates, they certainly seem to have the most socialist ideas of the alternatives and it was no surpise to learn that both Alan and Rachel have backgrounds rooted in the Labour of old.

I'm expecting a further influx of secretaries, shadow secretaries and minor opposition spokesmen and women over the next four weeks as each of the sides take their battles to the doorsteps and workplaces, the real key battlegrounds for any party wishing to form the next Government.

Never before has each vote counted as much as it does this year.