Brown fails to rule out coalition with Clegg as historic poll puts Lib Dems IN FRONT for first time in 104 years

BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday

Gordon Brown today repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats as Nick Clegg's party dramatically seized the lead in the Election campaign.

A Mail on Sunday poll reveals Mr Clegg's sparkling performance in last week's TV debate between the three party leaders has triggered a large rise in support for his party.

It has boosted Mr Brown's hopes of clinging to power by forming a coalition government with the Lib Dems - in return for a seat at the Cabinet table for Mr Clegg.

Today the Prime Minister fuelled speculation of a coalition by repeatedly refusing to dismiss such a scenario in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr. He also admitted he had 'lost' the first three-way debate last Thursday and that Mr Clegg's impressive performance had 'thrown the campaign wide open'. He said: 'I think it's energised the campaign. It's thrown the campaign wide, wide open.

'People thought it was a closed book to start with. I lost on presentation. I lost on style. Maybe I lost on smiling.

'Some may think I'm a sort of a tough headteacher, I don't know.

'But I've learned at the end of the debate, substance will come through.'

The Prime minister refused to be drawn on the possibility of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats but his clear refusal to rule it out will fuel speculation he is banking on a surge in the Lib Dem vote to keep him in office.

He would only say: 'We have got to get our policies across to the country. After the election, there is plenty of time to talk about what happens'

Mr Brown also insisted the election campaign was not 'a sprint'.

'It's a long campaign. We haven't debated the economy yet in any substantial way.'

And he added: 'This isn't an X-Factor talent show.'

In the BBC interview, Mr Brown also rejected Tory plans for a cap on immigration, insisting the 'tough' points-based system for admitting skilled migrants was a better way of controlling the numbers and was working.

Asked if 160,000 coming in each year was acceptable, he said: 'It's going to be lower. It's already lower this year. It's going to be a lot lower because the number of students coming in is going to be reduced in the coming year and the points system is starting to have a big effect.'

Mr Brown spoke after today's BPIX poll for The Mail on Sunday shows that support for the Lib Dems has soared to 32 per cent, one point ahead of the Conservatives on 31, with Labour trailing third at 28.

The result of the poll - the most authoritative conducted since the televised debate - represents an unprecedented 30 per cent rise in the Lib Dems' ratings in a week.

And it is the first-ever opinion survey that has shown the Liberal Democrats, or their predecessors the Liberals, in first place.

The short-lived SDP-Lib Dem Alliance was briefly ahead in the Eighties. But you have to go back to 1906, before opinion polls or television existed, for the last time the Liberals had the most popular support. They won a landslide Election under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and polled nearly 50 per cent of all votes.

Polling experts say it is possible the Liberal Democrat lead is a blip that could fade before the Election. But the survey provides further evidence that Britain may be heading for a hung parliament and a Lib-Lab pact that could yet see Mr Brown stay on in No10.

Labour Ministers can barely hide their glee at how the boost in Mr Clegg's ratings has thrown them a lifeline.

Mr Cameron's team are in despair at the way it threatens to rob them of what just a few months ago seemed a near-certain triumph. A Cameron victory depends on him winning dozens of Lib Dem seats. The Clegg bounce makes that far less likely. Bizarrely, if the BPIX findings are repeated on polling day on May 6, the vagaries of Britain's first-past-the-post voting system mean Labour would be the 'winner' - albeit well short of outright victory.

Labour would have 267 MPs, with 230 Tories and 121 Lib Dems. It would lead to a frantic few days of political horsetrading, with the most likely outcome a Lib-Lab deal giving them a clear Commons majority with a combined total of 388 MPs.

Mr Clegg's reward for propping up Labour would probably be a Cabinet post, with another for fellow Lib Dem Vince Cable, possibly as Chancellor.

BPIX pollster Professor Paul Whiteley said: 'This is the Nick Clegg wow factor. It could be a temporary phenomenon but it is hugely important and shows the television debate was a game-changer.

'Recent years have seen people's attachments to political parties chipped away bit by bit. We may now have reached the tipping point where the old tribal loyalties have gone. People are prepared to shop around for the party that offers them the best deal just as they shop around for consumer goods.'

BPIX Poll Sunday 18th April

The BPIX survey, in which 2,149 people were interviewed online, is the first full-scale poll to be carried out after the full impact of the televised debate became clear.

It was launched at midday on Friday, by which time newspapers, TV, radio and the internet had all reported Mr Clegg's coup.

Another poll published yesterday, which put the Lib Dems in second place, began early on Friday morning, before some voters were aware of Mr Clegg's performance.

The BPIX poll emphasises how Mr Clegg beat Mr Cameron and Mr Brown hands-down in the debate.

He is seen as more honest, intelligent, slick and relaxed. Even more remarkably, nearly two in three say he is charismatic, compared to one in five for Tory golden boy Mr Cameron and one in 20 for Mr Brown.

Nearly 80 per cent say Old Etonian Mr Cameron is 'posh' against a mere four per cent for Mr Clegg, even though he went to the elite private Westminster School and his father is a banker who is even wealthier than Mr Cameron's stockbroker father.

Asked what outcome they would prefer in the Election, the most popular option is a Brown-Clegg coalition.

That reverses the general view that the Lib-Lab pact in the Seventies was a shambles that paved the way for Margaret Thatcher's rise to power.

Yet the second most favoured result is the compete opposite - a large Tory victory. A Cameron-Clegg alliance is third choice, and least popular a narrow win by either Tories or Labour.

The poll shows a large majority support Mr Clegg's pledge to scrap income tax on the first £10,000 of earnings and his 'mansion tax' on homes worth more than £2million.

He is also backed over his promise to scrap Britain's nuclear deterrent and to limit relief on pensions to the basic tax rate.

But his plan for an eco tax on airline flights and his commitment to closer ties with the EU are opposed.

Tory chiefs are pinning their hopes on a better showing by Mr Cameron in Thursday's second TV debate.

His allies deny they are in a panic. But MPs pointed out that Mr Cameron was warned that allowing Mr Clegg to take part in the debates, instead of insisting on a Cameron versus Brown head-to-head clash, was a mistake.

Even if Mr Cameron loses the Election, he is likely to survive as leader - for the time being. His allies would argue that if, as before, a Lib-Lab government ended in chaos, there could be another Election in less than a year.

Mr Cameron's position is further strengthened by the absence of any obvious potential successor.

Nor is the rise of Mr Clegg without danger to Mr Brown. Mr Clegg could make the resignation of the unpopular Mr Brown the price of a Lib-Lab alliance.

Perversely, that could suit some Labour MPs who, privately, say that win or lose, Labour would benefit if Mr Brown stepped down.