Election Update - Thursday 29 April 2010
The Rules of Engagement
The third and final leaders’ debate will be held tonight, marking only one week to go before polling day.
Tonight’s debate, to be policed by veteran moderator David Dimbleby, will focus on the economy, arguably Brown’s strongest issue and Clegg’s weakest. The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ timely allegations this week that no party has released enough detail on their deficit reduction plans will prompt demands for greater detail on future cuts, and all three leaders will use the last audience-grabbing platform to clarify their position and attempt to reel in those floating voters. Brown’s slip-up yesterday* may well mean he goes into the debate trying to recover lost ground, rather than using the opportunity to gain momentum in the vital closing stages of the campaign on a topic considered to be his strong point.
The debates have received mixed reactions from the public, the media, political pundits and of course the parties themselves. While they can claim to have enlivened the previously expected drudgery of the election campaign and engaged voters, concerns have been raised about the presidential style of politics the debates encourage in our parliamentary political system. That only three constituencies in the country will actually have the chance to directly elect the future Prime Minister does not pull the limelight away from Brown, Cameron and the ever blooming Clegg. The candidates may hark on about ‘substance over style’ and the importance of hard-hitting policies over the likeability factor, but the fact remains that these debates have served, so far, to reinforce style and presentation as the important factors in the campaign.
Much was made in the run up to the debates about the strict rules agreed beforehand stifling debate, but exactly how constricting are they? Courtesy of Sky News, here are a few selected nuggets from the rules of engagement:
- The audience is to be selected from a 30-mile radius of the host city (Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham), but four additional questioners from elsewhere can be included by the broadcaster. Presumably that is why one of David Cameron's constituents from Witney was able to ask a question in the second debate.
- Each leader has one minute to answer the question, and then each has another minute to comment on the others' answers. There are then four minutes of open discussion, but in total over the whole debate the timings must be balanced. This format clearly does not lead to a free-flowing debate.
- Rule 40 says that there is to be no clapping during the debate, leaving the staid Question Time looking like a raucous party. This rule is purportedly to give more time for the discussion; however interestingly it says nothing about booing. Bookies are taking bets on a bored audience member finally breaking this one this evening.
- Gordon Brown broke rule 57 when he strode off the stage at the end of the first debate to shake hands with the audience, leaving the other two leaders wondering what to do, as he was supposed to shake hands with them first. A bemused Nick Clegg cut a schoolboy-like figure as he began to follow Brown’s example only to be called back by Cameron.
- No close-up shots of audience members are allowed while leaders are talking unless they are addressing a particular person. On news channels there can be scrolling news superimposed, but not about the debate itself.
To enhance viewing enjoyment, unleash your inner geek and follow leadersdebate on Twitter during the debates for instant reactions and humorous asides – posts tend to deviate from policy discussion on the whole, but are well worth the effort if you manage to keep up with the 20 tweets a second being posted. See if you can spot the hardcore party aficionados tweeting for their leading man.
Today’s poll of polls sees the Conservatives maintain their steady lead on 34 with the Liberal Democrats on 29 and Labour trailing in third place on 27.
*If you have impressively managed to avoid the media storm, Brown made an embarrassing behind-the-scenes gaffe by referring to a Labour voting elderly woman as ‘bigoted’ just moments after telling her how much he had enjoyed their conversation. The recording is bound to go down as campaign gold come future elections.
