ELECTION '97 : QUOTES OF THE DAY

Turkeys may not vote for Christmas but chickens apparently run away from broadcasts" - John Major, calling on the Labour leader, Tony Blair, to meet him head-to-head in a television debate

"The whole of my political life has been a preparation, if you like, for this period of time. I came into politics as a doer, not a sayer ... We are anxious to start doing" - Tony Blair

"After the false start to the election campaign before Easter, which saw Punch and Judy politics at its worst, we would like both the other parties to join us in fighting honestly on the big issues" - Paddy Ashdown, Liberal Democrat leader

"I could have planned it better" - Michael Forsyth, on the start of the Conservative election campaign

"It's better than the Boxing Day sale" - B&Q assistant in Croydon, Surrey where John Major's battlebus made its first stop of the campaign yesterday

"She's a pretty good kisser" - Chris Lacey, a young Northampton voter after exchanging pecks with the Labour leader's wife, Cherie Blair

"I'll never wash my hand again" - a woman who shook hands with the Prime Minister's wife, Norma, in Croydon

"There is no question of a single currency being imposed on the country, slunk through under cover or by a side wind" - Tony Blair

"Kenneth Clarke is supported by a dwindling band of Tory MPs who also value old Tory traditions. The wagons are circled. It's Clarke's last stand" - Labour MP (and former Tory) Alan Howarth