The leader of Britain’s third largest political party — a fresh-faced man pollsters said was an unknown among a quarter of the population — trounced his rivals in the country’s first of the three American-style television debate on Thursday night ahead of general elections.
Nick Clegg, 43-year-old leader of the Liberal Democrats, easily won over Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative aspirant David Cameron in an otherwise stilted and rule-bound debate.
Clegg summed up the debate saying: “I know you think that all politicians are the same. I hope I have tried to show you that that isn’t true.” His ‘plague on both your houses’ approach proved to be a resounding success with viewers.
It was a massive victory for Clegg — in a poll of 1,000 voters by Ladbrokes last month, 98% said they had heard of the race horse Kauto Star but 25% had never heard of the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the party that could hold the key to power after the May 6 elections.
In an embarrassing acknowledgement of that potential, Prime Minister Brown peppered his comments with “I agree with Nick” and “I think Nick would agree with me.”
{{/usCountry}}In an embarrassing acknowledgement of that potential, Prime Minister Brown peppered his comments with “I agree with Nick” and “I think Nick would agree with me.”
{{/usCountry}}Clegg, keen to be seen as politically distinct from Labour, at one point rebuffed Brown’s overtures during the 90-minute primetime show covering domestic issues such as immigration, health, education, economy, constitutional reform and last year’s MPs’ expenses scandal.
Brown, a former finance minister, was at his best dealing with economic issues, warning that Conservative plans to withdraw his government’s stimulus package could lead to a double-dip recession.
How the debate translates into voting on May 6 is unclear: The last YouGov polling figures for The Sun from Apr 14-15 had the Conservatives leading on 37%, Labour closing in on 31% and Liberal Democrats on 22% — pointing to a hung parliament.