Clegg Wins Debate, Brown Second, Yet Tories Lead

Last night, the British electorate was treated to a moment (90-minutes actually) of history. For the first time ever on UK TV, the would-be prime ministers debated one another. For Americans, debates like these have become old hat in the race for the presidency, but in Britain, such debates are restricted to Prime Minister's Question Time in Parliament, which few watch. From an electoral stand point, the Liberal Democrats' leader Nick Clegg won, with Prime Minister Brown finishing second. Nevertheless, the Conservative Party of David Cameron still leads in the opinion polls.

Were this a proper debate, with a resolution and one side speaking for the affirmative, etc., Mr. Cameron probably won (presuming the resolution was something along the lines of "resolved: the Labour Party doesn't deserve a fourth consecutive term in office"). His attacks on Labour's record and Mr. Brown's premiership rang true and were more credible than most of Mr. Clegg's. The PM would have lost on the grounds that not even the most skilled debater (and he is good) could defend the indefensible sufficiently to win.

However, TV political debates aren't about reason; they are about style, credibility and personality. Here, fate dealt Mr. Clegg the best hand, and he played it well. The LibDems' main problem has been the unwillingness of the media and the voters to take them seriously. Mr. Clegg standing as an equal with the PM and the Leader of the Opposition changed that. He also relaxed quicker than the other two, down to a casual hand-in-the-pocket stance. He further got to play the role of outsider, which appeals to today's anti-incumbent Britain. When he referred to his compatriots on the stage as "these two," he managed to say there wasn't a six-pence worth of difference between them. One wonders what former Liberal leaders like Lord Steel or Lord Ashdown could have done with such a platform.

For Mr. Brown, the evening was neither a disaster nor a triumph. On style, he is awkward on TV and his smile, well, the less often he does it the better. His policy wonkiness doesn't work on telly either. There is a stereotype summed up in the term "dour Scot," and unfortunately for the PM, that's what he is. At the same time, he did manage to remind the nation that he knows the job, has saved the country from financial meltdown (having caused some of it) and acknowledges that Labour's task isn't finished. He also began positioning his party for a Liberal-Labour alliance after the election by saying repeatedly "I agree with Nick." The best counterpunch of the night came when Mr. Brown said, "Nick supports me," and Mr. Clegg replied, "There is absolutely nothing to support."

Mr. Cameron had the highest expectations going into the debate, and as a result, he lost on points, not having quite met those expectations. Nevertheless, he was assured and on top of his material. He came across as a bit of an entitled aristocrat (which is what he is), but that plays well to his base, and the way he does it makes it seem Prime Ministerial. Without Mr. Clegg on stage, it would have been Mr. Cameron in a walk.

Two other points arise from the morning after the night before. First, British politics will never be the same after last night, or as one BBC commentator asked, "why have we waited 50 years for this?" Having debated once, and having two more encounters scheduled before polling day, the leaders of British political parties will be expected to do this again in the next election campaign. And as this more presidential style of campaigning becomes more common, it could be that Britons decide other presidential trappings are in order, like primaries for the party leadership.

Second, with the possible exception of Barack Obama, there are damned few American politicians who could stand up to the cut and thrust of British politics. Question Time requires MPs and ministers to learn policy and master the art of the quick retort. The years of training in the ancient Greek art of rhetoric these three men have had showed. While there were US experts flown in to advise, they were working with top-grade political talent rather than businesspersons who have decided to become politicians. It showed.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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