60 Second Briefing: May 03

Labour

• Jack McConnell and Gordon Brown both made a plea for voters to "come home to Labour". Dr John Reid, the Home Secretary, campaigned in Glasgow with Mr McConnell and accused Alex Salmond of arrogance, insisting Scots "do not like people who celebrate triumphantly before the vote is over."

SNP

• Alex Salmond got on board his election helicopter once again for a tour of constituencies in Aberdeenshire, Fife, Dundee and Aberdeen. He said only a Nationalist government would create a healthier and wealthier Scotland.

Lib Dems

• Nicol Stephen was in Dunfermline - the scene of the LibDems' famous Westminster by-election victory - to challenge his political rivals to match his party's key pledges of 100% renewable electricity, an hour a day of physical exercise for children and the creation of 100 new health centres.

Conservatives

• Goldie abseiled 13ft off a giant climbing frame in an Edinburgh shopping centre before claiming that the Conservatives were the only party focusing on "bread and butter" issues. To emphasise her point, Ms Goldie also sliced a loaf of bread.

Others

• Colin Fox, the leader of the SSP, said a growing "promiscuous" mood among voters will see his party, the Greens and Margo MacDonald secure seats on the regional list vote.

• Campaigning in Glasgow, Tommy Sheridan, the co-leader of Solidarity, said he was confident the party would win eight seats.

• Bookmakers William Hill yesterday cut the odds on Labour having the most seats in Holyrood following a rash of big-money bets - though the SNP are still favourites to win the election. Labour are 13/8 to be the largest party, down from 9/4. However, while the SNP are still favourites with the betting firm, the odds on them winning have lengthened slightly from 1/3 to 4/9.

• A former senior aide to the Queen denied pledging his official support to the Labour Party. Michael Shea, the former Buckingham Palace press secretary, said he had never told anyone who he was going to vote for, just days after Labour included his name in a list of prominent supporters.

• While other party leaders zeroed in on their core messages for the final day of campaigning, the Rev George Hargreaves stepped from the realms of publicity desperation into political surrealism. His final press release, urging people to vote for the Scottish Christian Party, accused the pop impressario and X Factor star Simon Cowell of owing him some cash. He claims he is owed royalties on the Sinitta hit "So Macho", penned by Hargreaves in his more secular days, and which went on to become a gay anthem. The wannabe Glasgow MSP doesn't know what "missing Macho money" he is owed.