Both parties have placed museums at the heart of their cultural policies, renewing commitment to free entry.
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While both parties are championing the arts and culture sector, after years of swingeing cuts these promises dazzle but offer little hope to struggling institutions
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Who comes up trumps in tertiary education?
You need to know what each party is promising but who has the time to read through all their programmes for government? We did so you don't have to.
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The party wants publicly-owned firms to join – not replace – the market.
Go big or go home?
PA/Danny Lawson
The party has produced an unexpectedly detailed plan for government, marking a radical break from the past.
Expert analysis of the leaked Labour party manifesto and how the parties are trying to manage their media messaging.
You probably won’t read them, but these documents can make or break a party.
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Here’s why you should bother paying attention to the documents published by your party this election.
Uninspiring.
Laura Lean / PA
Our politics correspondent explains why the Nuneaton hustings was just a warm-up act to the main event.
Will Ed’s crime policies lead him on the path to the premiership?
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Labour’s crime manifesto goes communitarian, despite them not branding it that way.
Your PM, painting by numbers.
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Arts and culture may not be big ticket policies, but the stakes are high in this election.
Should she buy it?
Liberal Democrats
Which party has the best policy offerings for women? An analysis of the manifestos of the three main parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat) reveals how their policies measure up. The Economy…
Flying high.
Jeff Buck/Geograph
All political parties are sitting up and paying attention to ‘English questions’, but only some offer a truly democratic approach.
Bend it like Miliband.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
Labour hasn’t made any new evident spending pledges for sports. Is it failing to see sport as a crucial part of culture?
Your name’s not down.
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Our immigration expert evaluates the manifestos of 16 political parties, to see how their policies on immigration stack up.
Good luck making it work in government.
Nick Ansell/PA
Civil servants are left out of manifesto writing, and we’re all worse off for it.
Miliband might ease the squeeze in Canary Wharf but what about the rest of the country?
Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
Miliband throws renters a lifeline but the neediest still miss out on affordable housing.
Ed also uses his as a doorstop.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
With the polls showing the Conservatives and Labour firmly stuck in neck-and-neck position, they are playing on multiple chessboards in a desperate scramble for votes. Their latest move has been to publish…
Man of the people?
Andy Rain/EPA
Our expert shows that public opinion may not be the best guide for effective policy.
All in for renewable energy.
Danny Lawson/PA
Labour’s green jobs numbers add up, but the picture’s less clear on fracking.
Cutting the deficit and growing the economy are central to the Labour Manifesto.
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
A key tenet of the Labour Party’s manifesto is reducing the budget deficit year-on-year through the lifetime of the next parliament.