British Election: Win or lose, David Cameron’s career hangs by a thread

Prime minister David Cameron is Britain’s most popular major party leader and his Conservative Party the most trusted on the economy after helping revive it. However, win or lose a knife-edge election today, his career hangs by a thread.

If he loses, it’s over instantly. And even if he wins but doesn’t secure an overall majority, which opinion polls suggest no party will achieve, he could face a leadership challenge from inside his famously ruthless party before too long.

A descendant of King William IV, Cameron, who came to power in a coalition with the centre-left Liberal Democrats in 2010, says he wants to serve another five-year term “to finish the job” of fixing the economy.