Which party has the X factor?

Gordon will be bricking it. You can almost picture him in his dressing room repeating over and over again, “It’s a global financial crisis!” Dave will probably be engulfed in a huddle, with his team of top advisers salivating at the opportunity to deliver a killer blow to his rival. Nick may well still walk onstage in disbelief that security could have let him into the building at all.

The moment the three leaders of Britain’s political parties step onstage for the first ever televised Prime Ministerial debate, they will be fully aware that they are taking part in a potentially game-changing stage in the general election cycle. They regularly spar off against each other for half an hour in the House Common’s bear pit every Wednesday lunchtime. But this time it’s personal, it’s unprecedented and there will be very real consequences for whoever is perceived to be the events ‘loser’.

For starters, ratings will be up. Secondly, the “old boy’s club” brand of jeering and in-jokes that are so frequently cited as a turn-off from Prime Minister’s Questions will not be present. In this regard, a welcome leap forward seems to have been taken with a trepid step back, as applause will be restricted to the beginning and end of the debates and the audience will not be allowed to respond to leaders’ answers.

Less forgivable is the move to bar TV interviewers and questioners alike from demanding qualitative answers from evasive politicians. By allowing each candidate to set out their electoral stall on a platform accessible to any layman, the provision should have been made to force as candid an answer as possible to each question. On a practical level anyway, within the pressure cooker surroundings of a TV debate, any signs of a shifty minister are hardly going to sit well with a public who will be looking to vote for a future as much on an honest and forthcoming image as the actual content of their policies.

The real fireworks are likely to occur in the four minutes of free debate possible for each question. With the greatest possibility for a leader’s comeuppance held within this timeslot, hours will have been wasted in advance on what stance to take.

The temptation will be for Gordon to stick to his now traditional list of scripted statistics on Labour’s last 13 years in office but going on the recent fluctuations in polling numbers he certainly won’t be faced with the ignominy of certain defeat.

Using past form as a guide, David is most galvanized when under pressure. With a limited window open into the homes into exactly those working class constituents who have so far eluded him, he will be aiming to deliver as much of his smarm as is humanly possible.

This leaves us then with the “wild card”, Nick Clegg. As is not the case with Prime Ministers Questions, he will be afforded an equal footing with his other two counterparts and as such could prove the deciding factor in a less-than-Spartan face off. His best strategy lies with a Lab-Lib bull boy pact where both representatives aim to slam the Tory opposition whist raising their own profile. Realistically attacking Labour as an option doesn’t really hold water as any voters they steal from under Brown’s wing will play into Tory hands, lessening their chances of a hung parliament and much needed voting reform.

The format certainly has its foibles and few will be dedicated enough to watch all three broadcasts but their historic nature should be enough to generate the column inches and gossip to differentiate between the parties. In a political year which has been dogged by scandal, the general public doubtlessly has opinions on these matters. The success of these debates should therefore be judged on whether said attitudes can be brought forth to the ballot box.

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