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 £100 million ($155 million, 140 million euros) 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 percent) chance of a hung parliament, and punters would have to gamble £8 to win £1.
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.
AFP
