Things to read if the telly's rubbish this Easter weekend

With a Westminster election expected to be called just days away, here’s some things to read if the thought of a rerun of Diagnosis Murder doesn’t appeal.

You can read why academics forecast a hung parliament (and why that’s not just because they’re all ignorant lefties). Why the parties won’t talk about immigration, why the environment won’t be a big electoral issue, and why recent political scandals won’t necessarily be as big a factor as you might think (voters everywhere think politicians are at it). Why you shouldn’t expect MPs voting to affect their electoral fortunes, why focussing on the same high profile Conservative candidates is very misleading, and as Ken Clarke told us, why all those new MPs could put back the cause of parliamentary reform anyway (because they’ll do what the whips tell them – as we argued here).

We’ve also carried a piece on the Prime Minister’s visit to the University to unveil his party’s election promises, and on a debate of local candidates. Plus, how the internet is changing politics (and not in the ways everyone thinks), David Owen’s views on hung parliaments, the role of posters in campaigning, what the election means for the far right, the Conservatives and ‘property owning democracy’, and why a ‘new’ play about politics sounds pretty much like almost every other play about politics.

What more do you want?

Professor Philip Cowley