They may have been criticised for having similar policies, but nobody could accuse the Conservatives, Labour or Liberal Democrats of stealing each other's manifesto designs.
MANIFESTO BATTLE
Both the Labour and Conservative have neglected to feature a picture of the party leader on its cover - but that is where the similarity ends.
It is almost as if the two publications have been produced for entirely different readerships - which, in a way, they have.
The Liberal Democrats do feature Charles Kennedy on the cover of their manifesto but its tabloid newspaper design sets it apart - for better or worse - from the other two.
So what's going on?
Michael Howard has defended the relative slimness of the Conservatives' 28-page brochure by saying he "actually wants people to read it".
It is certainly the most eye-catching design of the two.
The party have gone for a DIY look. The handwritten list of their priorities on the cover is clearly meant to feel authentic and "real" - the sort of thing that might have been hastily Xeroxed by an angry member of Mr Howard's "forgotten majority".
But inside it is a very slickly produced piece of work. There are acres of white space, and lots of tasteful colour photography.
It is also unbranded. You have to study the cover to discover what it is - never mind that it belongs to the Conservative Party.
It is full of visual hooks and emotional triggers to pull the casual reader in - there are CCTV stills of a woman being mugged and pictures of X-rays to illustrate the section on health.
It is as apolitical in design as it can be without becoming something other than a party manifesto.
Apart from the monochrome picture of Mr Howard on page one, there are no pictures of politicians.
CONSERVATIVE MANIFESTO
It is red and it has Labour's election slogan, Britain forward not back, on the front - twice.
It is a conscious throwback to socialist manifestos of the past, perhaps even a deliberate echo of Chairman Mao's "little red book".
'Pull quotes'
It looks like the sort of book a shop steward might wave in the face of a boss before calling everyone out on strike.
Apart from a picture of Mr Blair, it is all closely-packed text and it only uses one colour - red.
Unlike the Conservatives, whose right hand pages are given over to glossy reproductions of their campaign slogans, the "pull quotes" are wordy and detailed.
It has 112 pages and nine chapters.
The whole thing seems designed to reassure Labour's core support - the people it needs to turn out and vote on 5 May - that it is full of traditional Labour values.
It does not seem designed to appeal to the casual browser.
LABOUR MANIFESTO
Both manifestos will cost you £2.50 to buy in the shops - but neither is likely to trouble the bestseller lists.
Apart from anything else, they are available to download for free from the parties' websites.
Low budget
The Liberal Democrats have taken a different approach again - opting for the tried and tested tabloid newspaper format which has served them well in by-elections and local council contests over the years.
It is a more low-budget proposition than either the Conservative or Labour documents - and it is, perhaps, not sufficiently different from other party communications to prevent it from going straight into the waste paper bin.
Its layout and design are more like a traditional party manifesto. There are lots of smiling pictures of Lib Dem frontbenchers, including no less than 10 of party leader Charles Kennedy.
But the cover shot sees him surrounded - not by his front bench team - but a carefully-selected group of voters representing "modern Britain".
Mr Kennedy - unlike the other two leaders - is evidently seen as his party's most-marketable asset.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~41~RS~)