It may be April Fools’ day tomorrow, but Clara Furse certainly isn’t one of them. A list of the failed suitors for the London Stock Exchange on her watch doesn’t quite outnumber the field for the Derby, but it’s lengthening impressively:

* Nasdaq
* Macquarie Bank
* Euronext
* Deutsche Borse
* OMX

They would certainly make up a good Selling Plate.

Who then will Clara go for? Or, alternatively, lie back and think of England for?

This blog favours the former course, and now only one candidate remains: OMX Gruppen, the Swedish exchange that launched an audacious bid for the LSE a few years back.

Come on, Clara, go for it. It would make the LSE bid-proof and reinforce the City of London as the premier financial centre in the world.

England expects.