POLITICAL candidates have dismissed the notion that the election would be a good one to lose because of the severity of the cuts needed.

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, has warned of the tough times ahead for the UK and said they could keep whoever wins the next election “out of power for a whole generation”.

This has sparked a debate as to whether defeat on Thursday would be a disaster or a blessing in disguise for the losing parties.

Alasdair Murray, the Liberal Democrat candidate in Bournemouth West, believes only the Labour Party could possibly find a silver lining in defeat.

“The Conservatives have been expecting to win outright for so long that anything else will lead to big questions about their future direction,” he said.

“But the Labour Party are in a very uncertain position and I suspect many feel that having Brown in charge, making those cuts, would possibly lead to them being out of power for a generation.

“From my party’s point of view, we feel that Vince Cable and Nick Clegg are up to the job and having been out of power for so long, we want to show people what we can do. If anybody can do this tough job and win the understanding, if not the support, of the general public, it is Vince Cable.”

But Jim Knight, the Labour candidate for South Dorset, said his party was not daunted by the challenge ahead.

“You don’t come into politics to shirk the difficult issues, you come in to deal with them,” he said. “I think we’ve got the right experience to be able to make the efficiency savings that we need, to control public spending whilst at the same time protecting schools, the health service and the police from cuts.”

And Tobias Ellwood, standing in Bournemouth East for the Conservatives, said winning an election was an “honour and a privilege” and nothing to fear.

“Mervyn King’s comments are unhelpful and, in fact, untrue,” he said. “That’s not to take away from the huge task ahead of us.

“Bringing debt and spending under control are going to be the main focus for whoever wins the election. It’s not going to be popular but this is why there needs to be a proper business plan explained to the British people.

“In this period of austerity, in these difficult times, we hope that we offer a more plausible, more measured and more workable solution.”