ITV promotion 1st Debate April 2010 6/4 seems a good price on the PM not takink part On Monday I spent several hours in Westminster talking to key figures and attending the Robert Hayward briefing (see a previous post). One of the things I tried to get a sense of was the debates. Are these going to happen? The message I got was that those round Mr. Cameron are adamant that it is to the blue’s team’s advantage if the…
As it is he either agrees or continues to be labelled “chicken” As an incumbent PM facing an opposition leader with as poor personal ratings as Ed Miliband’s it has been apparent for a long time that the best outcome for DC would be for no debates to take place. Why give Ed a platform that puts him equal with Dave? This is the more so now that Ofcom has deemed UKIP to be a major party and the threat…
Bu 55% to 23% voters tell ComRes that they think Cameron is being cowardly by trying to avoid the TV debates pic.twitter.com/TadhiK6HJs — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) January 13, 2015 But what we don’t know is how salient an issue this is I am always a bit wary about polling like that featured above. Yes Mr. Cameron’s approach draws some negatives but does it actually matter? Isn’t the leaders’ debate issue just a concern that gets those within the “bubble” excited…
David Cameron will refuse to take part in TV debates if Greens not included, says @bbcnickrobinson — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 8, 2015 Ed Miliband on TV debates: "The Prime Minister should be able to stand on his record and stop running scared." — Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) January 8, 2015 It is hard to fault OFCOM logic that UKIP but not Greens are a major party but @David_Cameron is just too scared to debate @Nigel_Farage — Mark Reckless (@MarkReckless) January…
Corporeal looks at the BBC’s Clacton decision One of the unresolved questions surrounding the next general election is how the media will treat UKIP, will they be pushed into the background as coverage hones in on the Lib Dems, (and especially) Labour, and the Conservatives or will they get brought into the mainstream debate and get a share of the precious oxygen of publicity. Most interesting, and probably most symbolic of all is whether they will get a look in…
The 5-3-2 proposal is unworkable and looks like a wrecking attempt There’s no doubt that David Cameron looks like someone who wants to avoid the kind of leaders’ debates that dominated the 2010 election. He’s on record as saying that he’d prefer a different format, though the lack of engagement in the process to design them suggests no great urgency on his or his party’s part. Indeed, the proposal to have three debates – one between him and Ed Miliband,…
One thing we should know: the debates will happen In one sense, David Cameron and Ed Miliband missed out on an opportunity by declining the invites to what turned into the Clegg-Farage Eurodebates. Not being there will not have helped either of their parties and Cameron in particular could have occupied the popular sceptical middle ground between Clegg’s uncritical Europhilia and Farage’s withdrawalism. However, that opportunity has to be set against the cost, which would have been establishing a precedent…
It's going to be much harder keeping Farage out of the GE2015 debates pic.twitter.com/FamJJU9Muh — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) April 2, 2014 Unless Dave agrees he’ll be accused of running scared The big consequence of last night’s widely perceived victory by Farage in the debate with Clegg is that it’s going to be a lot harder keeping the UKIP leader out of the leaders’ debates at GE2015. Quite simply Clegg is now not in a position to object while Ed Miliband has…