ED MILIBAND will emerge as Prime Minister even if the Tories win the most seats on May 7, bookies and experts claimed yesterday.

Pundits laid their cards on the table yesterday as an influential Conservative suggested that David Cameron’s pledge to not seek a third term of office had damaged his campaign.

An updated forecast by elections researcher Lewis Baston, based on an extensive study of national and regional trends combined with unique constituency factors, shows a dead heat between Labour and Conservatives in the new Parliament, with each taking 272 seats.

The Lib Dems would be left with 28 while the SNP would seize a whopping 51 and Ukip would claim three in their first ever general election wins. Smaller parties would take six seats in Britain and all 18 in Northern Ireland.

But Mr Baston said Labour would have “so many more cards to play” in cross-party negotiations following the poll.

“There’s no-one except Ukip that Labour can’t deal with, whereas the Conservative buffet is much more restricted,” he said at a presentation organised by think tank Westbourne.

Betting giant Ladbroke said the gambling markets were confident of a larger Tory presence in the Commons.

Spokesman Matthew Shaddick said: “That’s where the money is.

“But there’s also confidence that Ed Miliband will be Prime Minister.”

Mr Shaddick agreed that there were too few options for alliances with smaller parties for Mr Cameron to cling to power.

Responding to the predictions, ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman agreed that a Miliband premiership was the likeliest outcome.

He said Tories had stacked their hopes on building a comfortable lead around New Year or after George Osborne’s final Budget.

“The breakthrough moment hasn’t come,” he said, adding that Tory head office was “now really nervous about the talk of lack of boots on the ground. They’re really sensitive when this gets written about.

“What is the really big problem is the chat about Cameron’s heart not being in it … coming out and saying he won’t serve a third term.
“Once you say that, you lose authority.”

Focus group guru Deborah Mattinson, a former adviser to Tony Blair, said discontent and “switching off” were the main currents she had detected among voters.