Election Debates’ seven-person panel declares Gordon Brown the winner of the second leaders’ debate in a split decision.
Five members of the panel gave the debate to Brown, while two judges gave the debate to Nick Clegg.
No one gave the debate to David Cameron. Moreover, six of the judges thought that Cameron was the poorest performer.
Watch the debate (courtesy of Sky and CSPAN) here.
Read the transcript (courtesy of the BBC) here.
Below is a snapshot of what the judges thought. Scroll down to view the individual analysis of each adjudicator.
As always, Election Debates strives to bring you objective, rational analysis of the debate, free from the usual political spin.
Neill Harvey-Smith
Winner: Nick Clegg – Scores: Brown 80 | Cameron 76 | Clegg 82
Nick Clegg gave a strong and assured performance, handling the expected attacks from other leaders very well and arguing with clarity and optimism.
Colm Flynn
Winner: Gordon Brown – Scores: Brown 80 | Clegg 78 | Cameron 73
Tonight we saw a much better performance from Brown. From the opening speeches we had a marked improvement in his performance as the embattled incumbent was replaced by the experienced statesman. In particular he dominated the first half of the debate … That dominance faded somewhat in the second half of the debate as Clegg and to a lesser degree Cameron moved onto ground they were more comfortable with.
Ray D’Cruz
Winner: Gordon Brown – Scores: Brown 83 | Clegg 80 | Cameron 75
Gordon Brown won this debate with a stronger start and plenty of momentum in the first half of the debate. His substantive arguments and lines of attack were clear from the start and held firm. Nick Clegg was less assured early and more assured on domestic issues later in the debate. David Cameron continues to struggle. He again failed to clearly articulate the key differences between a Conservative and Labour Government, resorting to freshness and an amorphous set of values.
Tommy Tonner
Winner: Gordon Brown – Scores: Brown 82 | Clegg 81 | Cameron 76
A much higher quality debate this week much closer too. A tweak to the format allowed more interaction, again Brown came out in front on direct exchanges. Clegg was clearly on top on style and finished strongly. Cameron remains becalmed. The issue in three way debates is who of the opposition parties lands the more effective punches on the government. On most occasions Clegg was able to do this – he effectively out-Cameroned Cameron. That said Brown’s clear command of detail and convincing tone just nudges it.
Omar Salahuddin
Winner: Nick Clegg – Scores: Clegg 83 | Cameron 79 | Brown 78
Nick Clegg just seemed more “reasonable” in his expression of views throughout the debate. He seemed as if he really had the interests of those who asked questions (voter representatives) at heart and was strenuous in his efforts to really answer them. Moreover, his engagement in the debate seemed much more spontaneous than either of the other two and his down-to-earth manner was very voter-friendly. David Cameron came across as much less well-organised. Gordon Brown, somewhat to the contrary, seemed over-prepared, in that his responses appeared to stick closely to a script, rather than respond to the specific dynamic evolving at the time.
Ian Lising
Winner: Gordon Brown – Scores: Brown 82 | Clegg 79 | Cameron 75
Brown started his initial presentation by indicating that the proceedings had the “feel of a popularity contest” and that if style and PR were the goal of the debates that we could just “count him out.” This was strange since I observed far more personality from him throughout this debate than I have ever seen before. Taking the big boys make big decisions route, he was able to tackle each of the issues quite handily. Clegg seemed to be eager to be on the attack once again, but this time was stymied at times by his ability to link the main points of his argumentation beyond the party line. Cameron seems frustrated by the direction that he tries to dictate. Too polished to be candid and too prepared to sound witty, his presentation closely resembled his attempted humor moment with the request for him to “stop breathing” to reduce carbon emissions.
Jason Jarvis
Winner: Gordon Brown – Scores: Brown 84 | Clegg 80 | Cameron 79
This was an interesting debate, with a few lively exchanges generating clear differences and interesting agreements between candidates. Gordon Brown was a clear winner in this debate with Nick Clegg coming in second and David Cameron registering a close third. Brown was very effective in discussing foreign policy and gained an advantage early in the debate that he refused to relinquish. He was both stylistically and analytically sharp.
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