Friday, April 23, 2010

uk leaders' debate2


I’d only listened to about half of the first debate on the radio, so last night was my first proper opportunity to assess our aspiring future leaders. I have to say that I was very impressed by the overall quality of the debate and by all three politicians (although I did think Sky TV’s Adam Boulton came across as a somewhat inept moderator/chairman). There’s one thing being able to present a prepared argument, but coming up with “instant” and effective responses is a real skill to be admired and I felt that all three leaders scored highly on this. I purposely scribbled down my gut reactions to the debate while the helicopters were still in the sky (we live less than a mile away from where last night’s debate took place) and before seeing or hearing the media’s “take” on the evening: Cameron was good – but didn’t across as well as I thought he would; I rather feared that the knives would really be out for Clegg (and they were to a degree) – but actually felt he had an excellent evening; the big surprise for me was Brown – I thought he came over as the “experienced statesman” and that he spoke with real authority. Last time, one of the Polls indicated Clegg as being the most impressive at 51%, with Cameron on 29% and Brown on 19% (and another 43%, 26% and 20% respectively).
I suspect that the Polls after last night’s debate will be somewhat closer.

2 comments:

bigdaddystevieB said...

Poll Average (of five polls conducted immediately after last night’s debate): Clegg 33.4%, Cameron 32.8%, Brown 27.4%.

just Gai said...

I'm pleasantly surprised by these debates. There's far more substance to them than I anticipated. And it appears that I'm not the only one. I heard on the radio the other morning that the first debate provoked a surge in the number of people registering to vote which, if it leads to a bigger turnout, will be good news for democracy.

I agree that Gordon gave a better account of himself in the second debate. Clegg was as good as his first appearance but Cameron looked uncomfortable. He's definitely the one who's come out worst.

I can't wait for the next one.