A couple of days ago, we blogged about the Conservative and Labour manifestos, comparing and contrasting the two documents. Now we've just "had a go" on the Lib Dem's manifesto, in iPhone app form...

On opening the free app (available via iTunes), it's immediately clear that the Liberal Democrats haven't blown their election campaign budget on design:

Horrible icon designs aside (the faceless, armless torso-people are a little scary), the premise for the app is quite good: users choose three key areas of the Lib Dem manifesto that they'd like to find out about, for example, 4 Key Policies; Your Family; and Your Money. Once you've selected three of the topics, up pops Nick Clegg to tell you what's what – in a classic, though dull, political party broadcast / conference style.

Unfortunately Clegg's spiel is interspersed with some more horrible graphics and, even worse yet, a truly awful soundtrack that is reminiscent, somehow, of both bad 80s porn music and Euro house of the most woeful variety. Jingly jangly guitar action (porn) with a constant hissing high hat rhythm (euro house) issuing forth from a tiny iPhone speaker? Never, ever a good policy. Make it stop!

For those that don't have an iPhone, you can view the Lib Dem manifesto in a very similar style (thanks to a nifty Flash app) on the party website at libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx. As with the iPhone app, this was created by Brighton-based media technology company WattenEarth.

The other week the Lib Dems' shadow chancellor Vince Cable delivered a response to the budget in a party political broadcast – and while I realise Cable's job is to think about the money side of things, I can't help feeling that this policy delivery style, (and the fact that he appears older and wiser) is much more appealing to the one presented in the manifesto app by party leader Clegg. Still, a (shadow) leader's got to lead...