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It's the final push and the last 24 hours of this election has found the North at the heart of the campaign.

It started last night when .

It was after 10pm when he fronted up, so not prime canvassing time.

But he did meet some firefighters to talk about the Conservative determination to halt plans to set up regional rather than local fire control rooms.

And he found time to buy fish and chips for himself and his team.

Meanwhile, Nick Clegg is in Durham today, talking to students in their top North East target.

And after writing this I'm off to Cumbria where Gordon Brown is due to arrive on one of his last stops of the campaign.

So why are we getting so much attention?

provides the explanation.

They suggest the Conservatives are ahead but short of the lead they need to cross the winning line and form a Commons majority.

And that makes some of our seats absolutely crucial to the outcome.

, , and all need swings from Labour to Conservative of around 7 per cent or less.

That's exactly the swing the Tories need to win outright.

And for the Lib Dems, they need to push hard in these last few hours to claim seats like the and to prove they've made progress on 2005.

With the polls suggesting that anything up to four in ten of us could change our minds before tomorrow, these last campaign stops could be critical.

The parties need to win over the waverers but also, particularly in the case of Labour and the Lib Dems, persuade their voters to turn out.

Labour historically finds it harder to get its vote out than the Conservatives, and in 2001 and 2005, the party believes some of their voters did stay at home.

So Gordon Brown needs to persuade supporters in Cumbria and beyond of the importance of this election.

The Lib Dems also have a challenge. Most polling I've seen suggests many of those won over by Nick Clegg in the TV debates are young - certainly under 30, often under 25.

In election after election they have been the least likely group to vote.

It's hardly surprising then that the Lib Dem leader should choose to spend some of his final few hours talking to Durham University students.

For the Conservatives, they need to show they can win again in the North.

They've put in the investment, and unlike 2001 and 2005, they've pushed really hard here.

They need to win here to get into government, but also to prove they are not just a southern party.

There's a lot at stake then in these final few hours of what is certainly the most unpredictable election for 18 years.

Of course you can follow all the results on the ´óÏó´«Ã½, online, on radio and on TV.

I'll be in the City of Durham tomorrow night, but about how things are looking in the region.

But once the final campaign visit comes to a close today the focus will switch entirely to you - the voters.

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