Girl power: Sturgeon, Bennett and Wood steal the show at the leaders’ debate

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]lection debates usually mean certain things – awkward eye contact, politicians that are hard to differentiate between and a twitter experience which is more entertaining than the debate itself.

ITV’s recent debate departed from the established formula and made an effort to include a wider range of parties in the discussion, helping to raise awareness for parties and leaders that are only just starting to be recognised as credible political forces by the establishment. Another thing that the debate demonstrated was that women are just as capable of holding their own in the political arena as men are.

Before the debate, most people only had a vague awareness of who figures like Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood are. You couldn’t say the same now. Whatever anyone’s personal feelings toward them, all three politicians are being lauded for the decorum and dignity they displayed on Thursday. By focusing on the issues and refusing to get involved in personal attacks (like the male politicians), they managed to ooze credibility by the end of the night.

In particular, Nicola Sturgeon has emerged as one of the most popular figures in British politics both sides of Hadrian’s Wall.

And it wasn’t just Sturgeon, Leanne Wood earned a round of spontaneous applause for her riposte to Nigel Farage’s vile remarks about health tourism and HIV. Even Natalie Bennett, who has been criticised for her public appearances, came away from the debates well. Figures showed that out of all the leaders, she gained the most followers and enjoyed a surge in popularity with younger voters.

Even Angela Merkel was defended, users on Twitter pointing out that her title is Chancellor, not Mrs. Even as the 2 hour debates drew to a close, you could see that the male candidates were struggling to keep control of themselves.

It’s also worth noting that the presenter rarely had to shout down the female candidates, but struggled to control the men.

Although it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing Sturgeon or Wood striding into Downing Street come May 7th, this has served as a demonstration of how effective women can be in politics. Despite the rhetoric that has been pouring out of Westminster, it remains something of a boy’s club, and that desperately needs to change. It’s almost impossible to get through a week without a female minister being subjected to the nebulous and frivolous attacks that a male politician just wouldn’t have to worry about. But as the women emerge from the debate victorious, could we finally see women start to make real inroads into the corridors of power?