The contentious pre-election interviews by Adam Boulton and Kay Burley have been dismissed by the UK’s media regulator.

Viewers of Sky News had objected to the treatment of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg by Boulton, with Ofcom receiving around nearly 2,000 complaints regarding the election coverage. The issue arose during an on-screen debate with Alastair Campbell, the renowned spin doctor for the Labour Party. Burley also caused complaints over her interviewing of an electoral reformist.

Boulton, who is the Sky News political editor, received 1,787 complaints, with most centred on what was seen as  unprofessional behaviour, with many analysts suggesting Boulton had lost his temper and railed at Campbell after the now deputy prime minister had accused him of being obviously upset that David Cameron was not prime minister. A second interview, on May 10, generated 671 complaints against Boulton for similar allegations.

In dismissing the allegations, Ofcom stated that the audience for the popular news channel was presented with two well-known personalities that had contributed to a heated debate, and though it was a concern, the content and tone was not deemed out of place and Boulton’s treatment of Clegg was not said to constitute heckling.

The media regulator also threw out the 1,008 complaints arising from Burley’s interview with well-known electoral reformist David Babbs on May 8, which sparked a Twitter campaign calling for her dismissal and shouts of abuse at later live broadcasts.

The incumbent British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has announced that he will be resigning from his post by September at the latest.

While Mr Brown and his fellow Labour Party ministers are working around the clock to try and reach an agreement with the Liberal Democrats on forming a new government, any such eventuality will not be headed by the current Labour leader who hopes to hang on to the reigns until the next party conference.

The presence of Mr Brown at number 10 Downing Street has widely been regarded as detrimental to his party’s chances of making a new deal with Nick Clegg. The announcement has therefore not been as much of a surprise as it may have seemed, with the focus on both sides firmly on finding common ground on the issue of electoral reform.

Both the poll-leading Conservative Party and Mr Brown’s Labour Party have been trying to woo the liberal Democrats through a range of reform initiatives as the battle for Britain’s leadership enters a critical phase.

The Tories responded to Mr Brown’s resignation announcement by offering the Liberal Democrats one final chance to introduce a referendum of Britain’s voting method, with the latter favouring a move to the Alternative Vote (AV) system.  Labour has gone further, offering to make the AV system law before conducting a referendum seeking voter approval.

Tomorrow is looming as crunch time for all concerned, with a full Liberal Democrat coalition with one or other of the main parties the most likely outcome.