Charles Kennedy kicked off his final push for votes by accusing Tony Blair of running an overly presidential campaign.

A buoyant Kennedy told his morning news conference that Labour and the Conservatives had not engaged with the electorate.

The Liberal Democrat leader gave a clear assessment of Labour's campaign. "I've been surprised by two things about the government. First, by their defensiveness in the early stages of the campaign. Second, why when you're the government has there been so little of any other senior cabinet minister," he said.

He accused Blair of running a presidential campaign, which he described as "dangerous".

"It's a party that can only run on his fuel," he said.

Kennedy also hit out at Blair's calls for a mandate. "You tell me to jump and I'll ask you how high. That doesn't strike me as leadership," he said.

He also claimed that with the Conservatives likely to be engaged in a bitter leadership feud, only the Liberal Democrats could offer effective opposition to Labour.

Turning his attention to William Hague, Kennedy claimed his opponent's campaign had turned away more voters than it had won. "The Conservatives haveprobably confirmed a lot of people's worst suspicions with their rather chaotic and reactionary approach to this campaign," he said.

He believed there was one key reason why the Lib Dems had been successful over the last four weeks. "The Lib Dems are actually in power and doing things in some parts of the country," said Kennedy.

The Lib Dem leader refused to be drawn on arguments over whether his party was to the left or right of Labour.

He set out the choice voters faced on Thursday saying there were "three choices". Said Kennedy: "If you want investment in education and pensions to remain the same, you should vote for Labour. If you want it to get worse, vote for William Hague's Conservatives. But if you want more investment in education and pensions, cast a vote for the Liberal Democrats."