Will you be voting at the upcoming elections?

[Woodsey]

Nick Clegg FTW

Done OK but still won't win shit..........

Doesn't have to win - just has to stop either of the other two winning, then he gets some say in things.

Have to say this thing has been far better than I thought - I assumed the restrictive rules would lead to it being really boring but there's a lot more of them talking to each other than you normally get in the US presidential debates.

That was going to happen anyway........

[Woodsey]

Wish the SNP would STFU.........

[Maxriddles]

Wish the SNP would STFU.........

This.

[thetank]

Great night for Nick Clegg.

The other two are his to lose now. I can't see Brown or Cameron taking him on because in so doing they risk looking like they are scraping for second place.

Bad night for David Cameron.

It's not that he did particularly badly, but Nick Clegg did the job and Gordon Brown confounded expectations. It's a zero sum game so he's the loser of the night.


Great debate I thought, compared to what everybody was expecting. There was a decent amount of substance, it was low on stunts and superficiality, the structure worked well, and it seems to be provoking a lot of chatter on my facebook (very low sample size tho - I have no friends ).
I'd really love the cynics who were all predicting record low turnouts at this election following the expenses scandal to have to eat their words. I'm now quite optimistic that these TV debates are going to be a good thing for British democracy.

Was funny to hear the instant reaction from representatives of Plaid Cymru, SNP and UKIP on the radio. They all came out with well written 'reactions' along the lines of, "it was dull, they're all the same and we've heard it all before".
It was rather obvious that they'd prepared their spiel beforehand. Tilts me a little when people dress up their preconceptions as to how they think something is going to go and pretend it's an ever so well spoken instant reaction. Plaid Cymru lady in particular was 'found out' imo.
Can't bosh her too much, it's politics and it's a game. Just not a game she played particularly well tonight

[Woodsey]

I don't think it was a bad night for Cameron as such, he just didn't do as well as everyone thought he would, and Clegg outshone them both by doing unexpectedly well. Cameron still did better then Brown which is what really matters. Be interesting to see some polls in the next day or two after the dust settles to see if it translates into many more votes for Clegg. In the last week I have gone from a non voter, to a conservative voter, to giving Clegg my ear for the next few weeks to see if he can convince me to change my mind.

[ripple11]

One swallow doesn't makes a summer.....but before the debate, it was looking difficult for the Tories to breakthough in the polls for the magically 326 seats,.....and now a hung parliament surely looks more likely than ever.

As high as 4/1 some time ago,....7/4 before the debate, its now 11/8.

[rex008]

I'm somewhat surprised everyone (51% apparently) said Clegg did well. Not sure I was watching the same debate? I saw a bloke who looked a little uncomfortable, reading out his prepared answers to the camera, mostly, which frankly made me cringe, then when it came to the "debate" part, .... read his statement out again. Didn't really see him engaging with the other two much, unlike Cameron/Brown, who needled each other reasonably well.

Personally I thought Cameron did the best of the three. He seemed to do the best at actually debating, although I thought he missed some fairly open goals that Brown set him up for. Seemed to let Brown get away with spouting shite too often. "Taking 6B out the economy? Yes Gordon, let people and businesses spend it as opposed to you nicking it and shoving it up your arse".

I guess I'm biased though - fairly natural tory voter, given I actually work for a living, in the private sector.

 

[Woodsey]

I'm somewhat surprised everyone (51% apparently) said Clegg did well. Not sure I was watching the same debate? I saw a bloke who looked a little uncomfortable, reading out his prepared answers to the camera, mostly, which frankly made me cringe, then when it came to the "debate" part, .... read his statement out again. Didn't really see him engaging with the other two much, unlike Cameron/Brown, who needled each other reasonably well.

Personally I thought Cameron did the best of the three. He seemed to do the best at actually debating, although I thought he missed some fairly open goals that Brown set him up for. Seemed to let Brown get away with spouting shite too often. "Taking 6B out the economy? Yes Gordon, let people and businesses spend it as opposed to you nicking it and shoving it up your arse".

I guess I'm biased though - fairly natural tory voter, given I actually work for a living, in the private sector.

 

I think Clegg came across well probably because the other two were at each other that gave him a free ride so he didn't get so much grief. That said he did come across as more composed than the others, and despite what you say they all had their prepared BS they all gave in equal measure.

And yes I am biased too and am a natural tory voter.........

[MANTIS01]

I think David Cameron did just fine. It was quite a difficult position for him with Brown attacking him on his left making werid and flat jokes about the campaign posters. With Brown going for Cameron it was a dream position for Clegg to just take a step back and use the old parties always bickering line. I think Clegg must have told us he was from Sheffield and thus not part of the sullied Westminster politics half a dozen times. With people looking for change Clegg was in the box seat to shine and snap polls will reflect that but I thought he was a bit lightweight. Cameron was credible and looked like the PM in waiting and I think he'll get better and better as the campaign progresses. Brown was awful and was so desperate to pander to Clegg in anticipation of a hung parliament.

[Bongo]

I'm somewhat surprised everyone (51% apparently) said Clegg did well. Not sure I was watching the same debate? I saw a bloke who looked a little uncomfortable, reading out his prepared answers to the camera, mostly, which frankly made me cringe, then when it came to the "debate" part, .... read his statement out again. Didn't really see him engaging with the other two much, unlike Cameron/Brown, who needled each other reasonably well.

Personally I thought Cameron did the best of the three. He seemed to do the best at actually debating, although I thought he missed some fairly open goals that Brown set him up for. Seemed to let Brown get away with spouting shite too often. "Taking 6B out the economy? Yes Gordon, let people and businesses spend it as opposed to you nicking it and shoving it up your arse".

I guess I'm biased though - fairly natural tory voter, given I actually work for a living, in the private sector.

 

Apparently talking to the camera is a good thing... don't ask me why though.

I think Clegg's lack of engagement would be scored as a plus, instead of getting involved in petty bickering he just gave his thoughts.

[Woodsey]

Wish the SNP would STFU.........

UKIP please STFU now.........

[GreekStein]

I am a controversative

[Cf]

The way Clegg kept mentioning the names of the people who asked the questions annoyed me. Yes, we get it, you're remembering names and engaging with them. Fine. Now stop saying their names for the 50th time!

I watched this as someone who has no idea about politics.

Brown came across as best to me. Seemed to generally know what he was talking about.

Cameron annoyed me, and seemed to continually dodge questions he didn't want to answer.

Clegg seemed ok but nothing he actually said seemed to stand out.

[Woodsey]

The way Clegg kept mentioning the names of the people who asked the questions annoyed me. Yes, we get it, you're remembering names and engaging with them. Fine. Now stop saying their names for the 50th time!

I watched this as someone who has no idea about politics.

Brown came across as best to me. Seemed to generally know what he was talking about.

Cameron annoyed me, and seemed to continually dodge questions he didn't want to answer.

Clegg seemed ok but nothing he actually said seemed to stand out.

WTF were you watching?

[Cf]

The way Clegg kept mentioning the names of the people who asked the questions annoyed me. Yes, we get it, you're remembering names and engaging with them. Fine. Now stop saying their names for the 50th time!

I watched this as someone who has no idea about politics.

Brown came across as best to me. Seemed to generally know what he was talking about.

Cameron annoyed me, and seemed to continually dodge questions he didn't want to answer.

Clegg seemed ok but nothing he actually said seemed to stand out.

WTF were you watching?

clarified for you