Women, apprentices and education on today's political agenda - as deadline for nominations closes

The deadline for candidate nominations is today at 4pm Credit: PA

Political leaders will be outlining how they plan to create more opportunities for women, as the deadline for candidates to be nominated to run in the election closes today.

Anyone who wishes to run for MP has until 4pm to submit their nominations.

Fresh from two TV debates within 24 hours, the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon will be in Midlothian with candidate Owen Thompson to spell out how her party's anti-austerity plan would boost opportunities for women through a "modest" increase in public spending.

Ukip will be laying down a similar line, with the party's deputy chairman Suzanne Evans setting out the party's policies for women.

Elsewhere, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett will be touring the battleground seat of Norwich South, where the party gained 14.9 per cent of the vote at the last election.

She will be touring the market and meeting stallholders, before launching the Norwich Manifesto and reiterating the Greens' pledge to introduce a living wage of £10 an hour within five years.

National Grid is among firms announcing hundreds of new apprenticeships Credit: PA

David Cameron will be hailing the creating of 16,000 new apprentices from Morrisons, Whitbread, National Grid and Dairy Crest, with a promise that a Tory government would create three million more and put them on a "level-pegging" with university degrees.

Read: 16,000 apprenticeships unveiled as Tories pledge 3m more

Tory Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will also confirm today that the party plans to go ahead with building four new Trident nuclear missile submarines to replace the existing fleet.

He will use a speech in London to attack Labour leader Ed Miliband, accusing him of preparing to "stab the UK in the back" by bowing to SNP demands to scrap the project.

Read: Tories commit to new fleet of next-gen submarines

In response, shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker insisted Mr Miliband had made it "crystal clear" that Britain's national security was not a matter for negotiation.

The Conservatives and Labour have clashed over Trident Credit: PA

Labour leader Ed Miliband will be joined by shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt and shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna to launch the party's £50m education manifesto.

He will reveal plans to guarantee that every teenager is given one-to-one advice on building their career from the age of 11, as well as reforming the careers advice service and reintroducing compulsory work experience for children aged between 14 and 16.

His message will be echoed in Cumbernauld by the party's Scottish leader Jim Murphy, who will make a speech declaring Labour has a "better plan to unlock opprtunities" after five years of Tory austerity.

For the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg will be in Cornwall to visit a local community hospital, underlining his party's manifesto pledge to invest an extra £8 billion into the NHS by 2020.