Stuart Wheeler of spread-betting firm IG Index, who famously gave £5m to back the UK Tory party, after it was wiped out in last week's election does not know which way to bet now. Understandably, the gambling man, who made his fortune from acute financial predictions, was feeling more than a little sore on Friday after the disastrous Conservative result and leader William Hague's resignation. 'I have to say that I don't know who should be party leader and I don't have a feel for who might become the leader. I am disappointed and I think it is personally disappointing for William Hague, who I believe would have made a good Prime Minister in four years' time when the Conservatives win the election,' he said.

Wheeler predicts that there will be a recession in the UK before the next election and that Labour will not know how to get out of it: 'They haven't actually done anything for the past four years and I doubt they will for the next. If there is a recession, then I think the Conservatives will be back.'