We were unsure for months, during the lead-up to the election campaign that officially kicked off on Monday, whether a debate between party leaders in the United Kingdom would take place at all. Discussions over rules and participants broke down at every turn, with Conservative Party negotiators in particular playing hard to get.
Faced with the genuine possibility of missing out on an evening of cheaply produced televised drama with viewing figures in the millions, the British networks went into overdrive on the issue - perhaps overlooking the fact that the debate stands as an inside-the-beltway discussion of little interest to the voting public. After all, in the history of the Mother of All Parliaments, debates between leaders occurred at all of one previous election - to skip them would have been no break from longstanding precedent or rich tradition. In the heady debate about the debate, Ed Miliband declared that he'd legislate to ensure that these debates, "which belong to the people," would take place by law, an interesting example of speaking before thinking. What might that mean, exactly? "The leader of the Opposition won't go to a TV studio to debate - clap him in irons and compel his attendance!"
Well, anyway. A compromise was fudged and on Thursday, we in Britain were treated to a grand, seven-way, all-in leaders' debate featuring the Conservatives, the Greens, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru (the Welsh nationalist party), the Scottish Nationalist Party, and the United Kingdom Independence Party.
In any such fight, with gunfire flying in all directions, casualties are more likely than winners and a clear result is all but impossible to declare. That said, here is my entirely personal and subjective scorecard:
David Cameron (Conservative Party, serving Prime Minister): 8 out of 10. No flash and nothing fancy, a solid performance. The prime minister had the most to lose and not much to gain from this debate, so emerging without a pratfall was apparently the whole of his playbook for the night - and it worked.
Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish Nationalist Party): 8 out of 10. Long known for their streetfighting qualities, the SNP turn out tough, charismatic performers such as Sturgeon and their past leader, Alex Salmond. But they can also be charming and smart - as Sturgeon was in the debate, making a clear play to side with Ed Miliband, continuing the manoeuvring for a place in a post-election coalition that increasingly characterizes the tenor of this campaign.
Ed Miliband (Labour Party, serving Leader of the Opposition): 7 out of 10. In an earlier non-debate "debate" where the two main party leaders were grilled by a presenter and studio audience one after the other, Miliband exceeded low expectations and emerged a clear winner. This time, public expectations were more realistic - he's not a no-hoper as he'd been portrayed, he's just uninspiring. Miliband turned in a creditable but rather narrow performance. He reached out to his base more than seizing the chance to speak with the wider audience that should be the focus of rare occasions like this. That said, post-debate snap polling shows that Miliband was (by a narrow margin) viewed as the victor by the public, and more general election polling shows that his present strategy is standing him in good stead for election day, so maybe this base-warming wasn't bad tactics.
Nigel Farage (UKIP): 7 out of 10. Farage is among the most charismatic politicians of his generation, but his style is more suited to the stump and the hall rather than the multi-participant, stop-and-start debate format. He's known for "telling it like it is" and landing blows. The fact that there emerged no memorable Farage quip from this debate is telling. That said, he needs to get out his core vote, and the more he is seen on terms of parity with the prime minister et al, the better for him - so it was a winning night for him all in all.
Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats, serving Deputy Prime Minister): 5 out of 10. That the serving deputy prime minister and darling of the debates held before the last election ranks fifth here is pretty remarkable. Clegg is a smooth operator, but he has somewhat lost his way, and in fact may yet lose his seat. He seems tired and uninspired.
Natalie Bennett (Greens): 5 out of 10. Way off the pace, Bennett has never recovered from a very poor media interview prior to the formal campaign period in which she seemed not to know the details of any of her own policies. Bennett failed to make much of an impact. Her star rose quickly earlier this year, and it has fallen with equal speed.
Leanne Wood (Plaid): 5 out of 10. Good exposure for her on the wider stage, but Wood really didn't take any chances. Her tactics - praise the NHS, criticize Farage at every opportunity - were predictable and don't take her beyond the slice of Wales that already likes her.
Now that it is over, what - if anything - did the debate really mean for who will run the United Kingdom after the election? In a debate that ICM polling found nobody really "won," the more the public sees Miliband, the more it does not dismiss him as a potential prime minister. The simple fact that the debate happened and that he is the visible alternative leader in this forum was vital for him. For Cameron, not slipping up was key; for Miliband, showing up was. They both succeeded.
There's one final, telling point. In a political system becoming increasingly presidential in style, there is more focus now than ever on the leaders. When asked in the flash poll to choose who was impressed most between the two candidates likeliest to be prime minister - Cameron and Miliband - the electorate was split exactly 50/50. There's a lot of life in this campaign yet.
(AP photo)
