Political certainties appear to have been reversed or at least thrown into confusion through the transformation of the unelectable Labour Party into what its leader Tony Blair calls New Labour.
While historically and simplistically the Tories have always been seen as the party of the upper and middle classes and businessmen, Prime Minister John Major is now making much of his own poor upbringing on the run down streets of inner London's Brixton area compared with the public school middle-class background of Mr Blair.
The Tories are even pitching their appeal at what they call the 'hardworking classes' in a desperate attempt to fight off Labour's move to the centre.
Whereas just five years ago it was easy to use the conventional left-right model of politics to describe the parties from Labour, through the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives, that model no longer works properly.
The Liberal Democrats may still appeal more to some in the middle classes than Mr Blair's New Labour but in terms of defence, taxation and public spending they are now perceived as well to the left of that party.
The result could mean that the Liberal Democrats, who at local government level control more local authorities than the Conservatives, will be reduced to just a handful from their current 26 MPs.
Their one hope is that the current Labour lead will drop to such a point that they can hold sway in a hung parliament where there is no overall majority and win the concession they have called for over decades, proportional representation.