London: Gamblers are revelling in Britain's knife-edge general election, betting record amounts of money on the race to take 10 Downing Street.
And the flow of punters' money is showing the Conservatives winning the most seats, but Labour opposition leader Ed Miliband becoming prime minister after the May 7 vote.
With the polls neck-and-neck since parliament was dissolved on March 30, many commentators have branded it a dull contest -- not so bookmakers, with the uncertainty triggering a betting bonanza.
"We wouldn't call it a flat campaign at all: it's the biggest political betting event we've ever seen," said Graeme Sharpe, spokesman for bookmakers William Hill.
Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said USD 155 million could be wagered -- quadruple the amount placed on the last general election in 2010.
Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party is battling it out with Miliband's Labour -- though neither is likely to win a majority of seats, meaning the election outcome is anything but clear.
"The only consensus around this election is that there's going to be a mess," Paddy Power spokesman Rory Scott told AFP.
"A hung parliament is a done deal," he said. The bookmaker is offering odds of 1/8 on it happening.
Those odds mean there is an eight in nine (89 per cent) chance of a hung parliament, and punters would have to gamble 8 pounds to win 1 pound.
The Conservatives are 6/1 to win a majority of seats. "That's drifted from 3/1 at least six weeks ago. Labour are now 33/1 to win a majority. No overall majority is nailed on, in our eyes," Scott said.
One man bet 200,000 pounds on a hung parliament when the price was 2/9 -- the largest general election bet any bookmaker has ever taken, according to Sharpe.
To form a majority government, the two major parties would have to team up in coalition with smaller parties. Bookmakers are offering odds on 32 different possible combinations.
"Spare a thought for the poor civil servants drafting scenarios for each of those situations," said Scott.
Indeed, betting chains are comparing this election with Britain's biggest horse race due to the myriad eventualities.
"We've termed it the first political Grand National. All in all, it's a remarkable event," Sharpe told AFP.
Voters may tell pollsters one thing but they're much more likely to go with their real feelings when they've got money staked on it -- and that's why election pundits look at the odds as much as the opinion polls.
