Key Scottish battlegrounds could alter eletion outcome

A number of key battleground seats will determine whether Scotland sees another political earthquake to rival the SNP winning power at Holyrood three years ago.

Alex Salmond has previously set an aim of taking 20 of Scotland's 59 seats and have Westminster "dancing to a Scottish jig" in the next Parliament.

Key target seats for the SNP include Ochil and South Perthshire, where Labour's Gordon Banks holds a majority of just 688.

They also have high hopes in Stirling, where Bruce Crawford won the Scottish Parliament seat in 2007 and Labour's Anne McGuire holds a majority of less than 5,000.

The Dundee West seat of Labour's Jim McGovern is also in the SNP's sights after they also took the Holyrood seat three years ago and seized control of the city council last year.

The Aberdeen North, Gordon and Livingston seats, which they also hold at Holyrood, are also high on the Nationalists' list of targets.

Despite holding just one seat at the moment, the Tories believe their performance in Scotland could possibly hold the key to them gaining power if the result is tight.

David Mundell, the sole Scottish Tory in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, is defending a slim majority of 1,738 but the party are confident of holding the seat.

A "clean sweep" of the Borders is being eyed by the Tories.

MSP John Lamont is looking to overturn a 6,000 Liberal Democrat majority in Berwick-shire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, where he already holds the equivalent Holyrood seat. Former party chairman Peter Duncan is also looking to snatch Dumfries and Galloway from Labour.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy's East Renfrewshire seat has previously been a Tory stronghold and candidate Richard Cook is confident of ousting the Labour heavyweight.

The Tories are also confident of their chances in SNP-held Perth and North Perthshire as well as Angus.

Labour already hold 39 seats in Scotland but are eyeing some gains of their own.

Experienced MSP Margaret Curran will be confident of re-gaining Glasgow East for Labour from the SNP after she lost a dramatic by-election to the Nationalists' John Mason by just 365 votes in the summer of 2008.

Labour are also hopeful of recapturing Dunfermline and West Fife, which neighbours Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Fife seat, after another shock by-election defeat to Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie four years ago.

The East Dunbartonshire seat of Lib Dem Jo Swinson is also in Labour's sights.

Edinburgh South will be a key battleground seat, with the Liberal Democrats hopeful of overturning a Labour majority of just 405 at the last election.

The incumbent MP Nigel Griffiths is standing down and the Lib Dems already hold the constituency at Holyrood, but the Tories are also confident of taking the seat.

The Lib Dems are also targeting Edinburgh North and Leith, along with the Aberdeen South seat of Labour's Anne Begg, where they finished just 1,348 votes behind at the last election and already hold the seat at Holyrood.