That was a surprisingly well-mannered debate, tightly moderated, with the main chaos coming from the member of the audience who decided to start heckling (and then stopped, followed by an ominous thud). There wasn’t a big upset at any point, and even the big moments weren’t really big stories. Those big moments were Nick Clegg going straight for David Cameron at the start, Nigel Farage’s rather scary rant, Leanne Wood telling Farage he should be ashamed of himself, Miliband on zero hours contracts, and Clegg turning on Miliband at the end. But no-one messed up.
David Cameron came across as being really rather uninspiring, but I suspect that this was the tactic that the Prime Minister had picked for a good reason: it is still a good way out from the election and he is playing a safety first strategy. He didn’t mess up, he went rather quiet for the second half, before having the final say in the closing statements. Nigel Farage, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett were all shoring up their core votes, without much care for the rest of the electorate. Farage’s HIV comments will have enraged some watching, but the way the other leaders ganged up on him in the immigration section will have benefitted him.
Bennett took almost every unpopular position there was, pitching perfectly to the pro-overseas aid, anti-austerity and pro-immigration vote. Wood talked solely about Wales. The insurgent who talked to others was Nicola Sturgeon, who was clearly trying to Scotch the Tory portrayal of the SNP as hostile bogeymen. She came across as game for a fight, but also upbeat and passionate. Nick Clegg was the most relaxed, and had some memorable moments. He didn’t leave the stage looking as bruised as many might have expected.
But the person feeling the least enthused after this must surely be Miliband, who now has to face the ‘challengers’ debate, where he will be the only ‘mainstream’ party leader there and will face a pummelling from the anti-austerity alliance that rattled away so effectively through this debate.
Comments