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Category: Leaders’ TV debates

Dave would be making a big mistake if he tries try to duck out of TV leaders’ debates in 2015

Dave would be making a big mistake if he tries try to duck out of TV leaders’ debates in 2015

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Marf PB cartoon May 3rd 2010 Grant Shapps has not thought this one through While all eyes have been on UKIP and Rotherham what for me was the biggest general election news over the weekend has been largely ignored. This was the comment by Tory chair, Grant Shapps, that Dave might not take part in TV debates in the run-up to the next general election. Given the impact that the debates had in 2010 this could have a major impact…

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Dave back with a clear lead in the leader ratings

Dave back with a clear lead in the leader ratings

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Is the hacking effect starting to recede? The latest YouGov party leadership ratings for News International are out and show the prime minister gaining some ground. As can be seen Dave is up a net five on last week with Ed down a net two and Clegg unchanged. Looking back over the past few weeks both Clegg and Miliband are still in much better positions than before the scandal erupted. Miliband is a net 17 points up while Clegg is…

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Exactly a year ago today – when politics changed forever

Exactly a year ago today – when politics changed forever

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Without the debates could Labour have hung on? Today is the first anniversary of an event that was to have a profound impact on the 2010 general election and which probably changed British politics forever – the first of the three leaders’ TV debates. It was staged at the Granada studios in Manchester and I was fortunate to have been there – taking part in the post-debate discussion on ITV with Jonathan Dimbleby. We all know the story of what…

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Did the debates cost Labour at least 20 seats?

Did the debates cost Labour at least 20 seats?

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Rod Crosby on the impact of Brown’s decision to take part After working hard in the run-up to the election I took a break for a while, and have really only just begun the post-mortem on my predictions and the actual result. One thing that caught my eye is this graph. For those who don’t recall, I promoted the Kalman Filter as the best way of “averaging” the polls, and as far as the critical Tory lead was concerned it…

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Will Dave regret his debate fuel promise?

Will Dave regret his debate fuel promise?

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Is this the problem with policy-making on the hoof? Cast your minds back to Tuesday April 22nd when Adam Boulton of Sky News was moderating the second leaders’ debate in Bristol. A week earlier Nick Clegg had suddenly burst onto the scene with his first debate appearance and the polls had changed dramatically. The general view was that Cameron had performed below par and the pressure was on him to do much better. In the second debate he was clearly…

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Will the Milibands still be on top after Newsnight?

Will the Milibands still be on top after Newsnight?

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BBC Newsnight Could tonight’s debate change the contest’s dynamics? Richard Darlington on the New Statesman blog has a good trailer for tonight’s Newsnight debate with Jeremy Paxman in the chair. It takes place in front of an audience of swing and former Labour voters and their reaction could play a key part. For unlike the sterile rules of the General Election TV debates the audience are able to cheer and show their disapproval. To my mind this is the big…

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Could Dave have stopped Nick from being here?

Could Dave have stopped Nick from being here?

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Is Michael Ashcroft right to vent his spleen? According to the News of the World’s political editor, Ian Kirby, the Tory fundraiser who became the target of Labour attacks, Michael Ashcroft, is writing a book in which he’s hugely crititcal of the Tory general election campaign and David Cameron’s leadership. A particular focus is said to be “the decision to put David Cameron alongside Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg in the three TV debates.” Ashcroft is right about their impact…

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Is this Cameron’s platform for Downing Street?

Is this Cameron’s platform for Downing Street?

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Who won final debate? ICM AR YouGov ComRes Populus Cameron 35% 36% 41% 35% 38% Clegg 27% 30% 32% 33% 38% Brown 29% 23% 25% 26% 25% Debate polling – the final figures All of the pollsters agree that it was Dave wot did it – though Populus has him sharing the top slot with Clegg. Meanwhile the phone pollster that operates in a very similar manner, ICM for the Guardian, had the Lib Dem leader in bottom place. Martin…

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