The London Evening Standard declares for the Conservatives

Another media endorsement for the party comes on the eve of the election from the capital's Evening Standard - declaring for the Conservatives at a general election for the first time since 1992.

Here are some excerpts of today's editorial, which is headlined, "David Cameron: the Prime Minister that London now needs":

"We need a party and a leader with the steel to take the unpopular decisions that undoubtedly lie ahead — yet with the compassion to address the inequalities exposed recently in this paper's Dispossessed series on London's poor. The choice has become much clearer over the past four weeks: that is the value of election campaigns, democracy at its most frenetic. Party leaders have been tested to the limit, both in the TV debates and on the campaign trail."

"Even for loyal Labour voters, another five years of Mr Brown can hardly seem an appealing prospect. It is not simply that Mr Brown looks tired and careworn, the face of the past. The inevitable riposte to any of his promises is: why didn't you do it years ago? Labour has had 13 years to reform the economy: instead, as Chancellor, Mr Brown let the banks rip. He had years to repair the public finances. Instead, we now have the biggest peacetime deficit ever. On issues from immigration to schools to soldiers' kit to welfare reform, Mr Brown could have acted for real change years ago — but did not."

"Mr Cameron has grown in this campaign. If the point of British elections nowadays is largely to test the characters of the would-be premiers, Mr Cameron is the clear winner. Despite the challenge of Mr Clegg, he stuck with it and learned from his mistakes. Few could now doubt that he has the strength and clarity of vision to lead the country."

"Today, we believe that only the Conservatives can offer Britain — and London — the possibility of real change and firm leadership... The Conservatives are ready for power: they look like a government in waiting. They have a charismatic leader in David Cameron. He has proved himself under fire in this campaign. And he now emphatically deserves a chance to succeed where Labour has failed."

Read it in full here.

Jonathan Isaby