Westminster Blog

They all flunked it. The television debates have energised this election campaign. There are encouraging signs that they have jolted the nation out of its long drift to insouciant indifference. Voter turnout may well rise on May 6. But illumination? Clarity? Honesty? There was no winner on that score in Birmingham.

The third and final of these encounters should have been the best. It was about the issue that matters most to the voters: the economy. What they saw were three, rather shifty, politicians running away from the truth. Read more

David Cameron was more assured than last week; Gordon Brown played to his strengths; Nick Clegg held the ground he had won in the first debate. One snap poll gave the contest to Mr Cameron; another to Mr Clegg. Both polls showed all the leaders bunched fairly closely together. I did not see any knock-out blows, and to my mind there are still three players in this extraordinary election. The one thing we have learned during the past few days is that nothing is predictable.

The debates are proving a wonderful innovation, albeit one that has come about half-a-century too late. Much was said before the opening of the campaign about the new media – social networks, Twitter and the rest – setting the parameters and pace of events. In fact everything has revolved around these face-to-face confrontations. You can’t get much more old media than that. Read more

Mischievous talk at Lib Dem HQ after Nick Clegg’s debate triumph. Word has it that Vince Cable, who has been on Mr Clegg’s right shoulder since the start of the campaign, is not quite as thrilled as some about the leader’s new found status as Britain’s Obama. One Lib Dem insider goes so far as to suggest the party’s would-be chancellor in any post-election coalition is a touch miffed about all the plaudits now being heaped on Mr Clegg. The media’s love affair with the sainted Vince has cooled as a consequence, and Mr Clegg may now decide he can go it alone on the campaign trail.

I am sure all this is just gossip, but there is a serious point. The power balance in the party has shifted decisively. No longer is the leader a callow youth relying on the wisdom and experience of a more popular colleague. Mr Clegg is now his own man. I suspect Mr Cable may not be alone in the Lib Dem team in having mixed feelings. But that’s politics. Read more

A post-debate puzzle. I have still to hear a convincing explanation as to why David Cameron dropped any reference to the Big Society. After all, he had launched what he called the Tory big idea with great fanfare only two days earlier.

Will Mr Cameron revive the theme during the next debates or have the campaign focus groups already told the Tory leadership that it won’t gain traction? I ask the question as someone who thinks there is something to be said for encouraging civic engagement and social responsibility. Read more