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The Liberal Democrats tell us they are to push resources not only into their frontline seats but a new second line of constituencies they now believe they can win.

So the emphasis is shifting to seats like Chelmsford, and even East Cambridgeshire.

Today , co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Party and its first President, visited Norwich.

This is a woman who's seen it all before. So is this a 1981 moment?

"The effect of the debates has been colossal - largely because we had the least known party with the least known leader.

"What happened was because we were 'the leftover party' - in the shadows.

"A large number of people are deeply worried about the political system. They hope for a new kind of politics. I do think we're going through a huge cultural shift and we won't have a two party system any more."

She recalled : "We had this initial breakthrough but it all subsided in the long term."

So is it really going to be different this time?

There is no doubt this is the most extraordinary election. It is not simply the narrative of an outgoing Labour government or an incoming Conservative one.

That's the story we have all been telling for months now, as Baroness Williams pointed out to me today. We, the media, didn't see it coming.

Who? Moi?

This is history in the making. Tell your children. This is a moment.

But what is... it?

Will this be the end of a century of two party hegemony? The beginning of proportional representation..?

Or simply a puff in the polls for the Lib Dems that will evaporate in the fires of the first past the post system.

I'll stick my neck out. Something's afoot. What's odd is that it looks more likely to fan the flames of consensus than the winds of change.

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