How to survive, and thrive, on the 2010 election

A Conservative parody of Gordon Brown, a Lib Dem web parody of 'Labservative' and a Labour parody of David Cameron

The election campaign is only a day old and, according to a poll, 43% of people are already bored by it. Yet, for a relative handful of people, the coming four weeks signal one of life's all-too-rare highlights.

So maybe the jaded just aren't looking in the right place. Here, a panel of connoisseurs explain what it is about general election time that sets their spines tingling, their nerves jangling and their minds racing. And there's not a politician among them.

CARTOONS

One of the great things about elections is watching how the newspaper cartoonists try and liven things up, says Tim Benson, who runs the Political Cartoon Society.

There have been a run of recent general elections where the result has been fairly clear beforehand, but that is set to change.

A time when cartoonists are put on their mettle

"You never know what the cartoonists are going to come up with. They are highly innovative people. It is kind of reliant on what the politicians do. If it's dull and they stick to the script, it's much harder for the cartoonists."

The cartoons from election periods have had an impact on outcomes in the past, or so it has been claimed.

Mr Benson points to the Daily Mirror editor Hugh Cudlipp's claim that the paper's coverage had helped Labour to a win in 1945.

The reason was a cartoon by Philip Zec. Originally printed to mark VE Day, it showed a weary, wounded soldier, presenting a laurel with the label "Victory and peace in Europe". The soldier is saying: "Here you are! Don't lose it again."

On election day, the Mirror reprinted it on their front page with an accompanying editorial saying the Labour Party would be better at preserving the peace.

But election-time cartoons can also have unintended consequences such as when the cartoonist Vicky drew Harold Macmillan as the puffed up hero Supermac. Despite the intention being light ridicule, Macmillan's image was perceived to have been boosted.

POSTERS

Posters are a very British source of fun in the general election, says political marketing expert Prof Nicholas O'Shaughnessy of Queen Mary University of London.

Negative works - it polarises the electorate, it reinforces partisanship Prof Nicholas O'Shaughnessy

In US politics the 30-second television advert is king, but in the UK, where the use of television and radio is so heavily restricted, the poster still reigns supreme.

"With the poster comes the slogan," says Prof O'Shaughnessy. These slogan posters are very often the prism through which campaigns are remembered.

And a key thing is that the posters are not entirely aimed at people walking past them. They are also designed to generate free coverage in the media, in the same way any commercial advertising campaign is.

"The whole point is media filtration. Most people see the posters in newspapers. A controversial poster can generate £4m of free coverage."

And they generate whirlwinds of interest. The Conservatives' Tony Blair "Demon Eyes" poster, with the slogan "New Labour New Danger", was lauded by the advertising industry but vilified by some.

Other Conservative classics include the "Labour isn't working" dole queue image from 1979, as well as 1992's "Labour's Tax Bombshell".

Before wit and humour became must-have ingredients for posters

But other parties have had their fair share of coverage too. In the 2005 election, a poster portraying Michael Howard and Oliver Letwin - both of whom have Jewish roots - as pigs drew suggestions of anti-Semitism, roundly denied by ad agency boss Trevor Beattie.

"It isn't a science, it's an art. As well as the content of the message you also have a tone," says Prof O'Shaughnessy.

"Negative works - it polarises the electorate, it reinforces partisanship."

One factor at this election is the way that bedroom Photoshop users can parody a newly-released poster in minutes and release it on to the web. The Conservatives' poster featuring David Cameron has had this treatment in spades, as has the recent Labour billboard with David Cameron in an Ashes to Ashes parody.

And how successful a poster has been in actually winning votes is very difficult to assess, says Prof O'Shaughnessy. Sometimes they can generate a media storm or be lauded, and still have an unclear effect.

"The interesting thing about the 'demon eyes' poster is that people didn't understand it. The symbolism wasn't readily decoded."

GAFFES

There's nothing like a sense of the unknown to pique someone's interest and excitement in an event. It's a mantra which can be applied to the 2010 election. For a start, even the most avid of poll watchers would be hard pushed to predict the outcome of the vote on 6 May.

A bit like a TV outtake show - what's not to enjoy?

"It only takes a few people to shift another way... it can be a tipping point," says the veteran Guardian journalist Simon Hoggart, who says the uncertainty of this campaign is what makes it so compelling.

And then there's something else, the things you simply can't plan for. You only have to watch one of those TV outtakes shows to know there is joy to be had in witnessing someone else's misfortune. No matter how hard the parties meticulously plan their every move, the randomness of campaigns has the potential to throw up some real curve balls.

"The parties always start with a grid showing which theme or policy they're going to launch each day, but then it goes haywire, " explains Hoggart. Another party might say something to challenge a policy, a journalist might dig out a story about a subject and then all plans to launch a policy go off track.

"They might be wanting to talk about the NHS but suddenly they have to talk about taxes."

But it's not just about policy going off script. Put politicians and punters in the same place, and things can get interesting. The infamous Prescott punch from the 2001 General Election campaign is one such example, as was the very public haranguing Tony Blair received from the wife of a cancer patient outside a Birmingham hospital in 2001.

For Hoggart these encounters are interesting because they reveal something about the relationship between voters and politicians.

"They don't usually interact with real people," he says, "but they want to be seen with them because they hope that voters will think 'here's a man who can talk to the man or woman in the street'."

CARNIVAL SPIRIT

As a political anorak, John Sergeant might be expected to enthuse most about the arcane policy differences that separate the main parties vying for voters' crosses. But for him the seemingly silly is every bit as relevant as the sensible.

'It's a celebration of politics' says Sergeant

"What I like is that elections are a celebration of politics and people can see what a wonderful festival of politics it is. The energy of it," says Sergeant, who became known to a whole new generation as a contestant in 2008's Strictly Come Dancing.

"The truth is that most people are interested in personality and image rather than dry policy. But it takes a clear understanding of what matters to enjoy the superficial aspects. People shouldn't feel guilty about being interested in Sam Cam's baby, Mrs Brown's latest outfit or the glamorous Mrs Clegg. We've all got to get used to the idea that this is as important to politics as the high-minded debates."

And while in many countries an election comes loaded with the threat of violence and instability, Sergeant says the British should relish the thought that whoever wins, a crisis is not on the cards.

"The joy of it is that in the end we know, as a nation, we can handle the change and we can handle it fairly easily. We do politics in this country and the Good Ship UK is going to sail on."

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is exciting to many in this campaign because it quickens the pace of how news is disseminated. A story which is sent out on Twitter, can soon end up on Facebook or YouTube - there's no need to wait for a newspaper or TV bulletin to share information.

"Because of the social web, all articles and all perspectives are shared much much more easily," says Alberto Nardelli, chief executive and founder of Tweetminster, a political twitter feed site.

The sites give voters a direct line to the candidates, and provide a place for people to discuss ideas and policies.

The internet was of course around in the last few UK general elections, but social media this time round is replacing traditional "static" websites, argues Mr Nardelli.

We can expect in the 2010 election to see many more political ads online and an abundance of e-mails from candidates. But in this DIY media world we can also expect a raft of homemade videos made by people who want to get their message or issue heard, or who simply want to poke fun at it all.