60 Second Briefing: April 27

Conservatives
Annabel Goldie developed her "bread and butter strategy" with a new "Union strategy" in a State of the Union speech in Edinburgh, claiming Labour and the LibDems' "incompetence" is a threat to the Union, but refusing to go into government to do better.

Labour
At a public event organised by The Herald, Jack McConnell talked up his education plans, warned against change in student finance, praised Tony Blair as "the great communicator", and stepped into risky territory with talk of long-term change to council taxation. Tony Blair talked to voters at an event in Neilston, East Renfrewshire, claiming the SNP poses a three-part tax threat. Jack McConnell campaigned in Dalkeith and was in Stornoway last night.

SNP Alex Salmond welcomed the announcement by another leading Scottish business figure that he was backing the SNP. Donald Macdonald, executive chairman of Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, said he had grown disillusioned about Scotland's future. Nicola Sturgeon was in Glasgow to launch the party's "100 Voices - Count Me In" campaign, designed to sway undecided voters.

LibDems
Nicol Stephen was on an Edinburgh rooftop outlining his plans for all of Scotland's electricity to be generated from environmentally-friendly sources by 2050. The party hailed the Scottish Opinion survey finding that its support was up by five and four points on the two sets of voting intentions.

Others
NHS First lambasted the executive's hospital record.

Asked on STV if they would endorse each other's party for a second council vote preference, the SSP's Colin Fox said he would. Solidarity's Tommy Sheridan refused.

While The Herald's poll, by mruk research, showed the SNP ahead of Labour by four points in constituency voting intentions, another survey, by Scottish Opinion, showed Nationalists ahead by 34 to 32% on the constituency vote, and three points ahead on the regional vote.

The Scottish Senior Citizens' Unity Party takes a cruise down the Clyde - and back.

Jack McConnell returns from Stornoway.

Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne will join Annabel Goldie in Ayr, focussing on plans to halve council tax for pensioners.

Nicol Stephen will visit Aberdeen University student union to challenge the other parties to back the campaign by Scotland's universities for £168m of new funding.

A Populus poll is published this morning.