The final election debate

by Veronika Leitner

David Cameron accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of "trying to frighten people" and "misleading the public" over Conservative policies during the final Prime Ministerial Debate last night.

Hosted in Birmingham, the subject of the debate was the economy, and the three party leaders laid out their policies on this issue once more.

Almost 500 students, lecturers, and members of the public gathered at the London School of Economics (LSE) last night to watch the last Prime Ministerial Debate.

Cameron said that Brown was "trying to frighten people," and "misleading" the public about Conservative policies to benefit himself, even going as far as saying: “He should be ashamed of what he's doing."

By a show of hands, approximately half of the audience thought the Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg performed best, while one third saw Gordon Brown as the winner.

Just a handful of those attending the event - held at the Sheikh Zayed Theatre - were convinced by what David Cameron had to say.

"The guy in the blue tie [David Cameron] is completely out of touch, the guy in the middle [Nick Clegg] was pretty cool, he’s on the ball, he knows what’s going on, and then the Scottish guy [Gordon Brown]...he’s not bad but he gave me the creeps a little," one student stated during the discussion lead by Tony Travers, the Director of LSE London and Greater London Group.

Recent opinion polls conducted for the mainstream media declared David Cameron as the clear winner.

On average, 37 per cent of respondents thought the Tory leader outperformed both his rivals, leaving Nick Clegg 5 points behind with 32 per cent, and the current Prime Minister Gordon Brown on third place with 26 per cent.

Aftermath

Arts London News spoke to students after the event, asking about the impact of the TV debate on their voting intentions.

Hirdis Sigurgrimsdottir, 29, who attends a master course in Comparative Politics at LSE was impressed by Nick Clegg’s performance but said viewers "must not forget that this is just one person other than a party and you shouldn’t be mislead by charisma over politics."

Meg Paradise, 29, student, said: "It was a great opportunity for the British electorate to see their candidates addressing each other directly.

"A lot of times in politics you don’t get that chance."

International Relations student Sumedh Shaftri, 24 said: "The debate was interesting but I’ve pretty much made up my mind based on the manifestos and the policies I read before.

"It was more entertaining rather than informing."

Final words

In his opening statement, Brown admitted that he might not "get all of it right" when it came to interpersonal aspects of the job.

He stated: "I do know how to run the economy in good times and in bad...I'm the one to fight for your future."

Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg raised most cheering from the audience throughout the debate.

Clegg was openly applauded by the audience at LSE after he answered the question of an audience member in Birmingham about the parties’ immigration policies, where he called the Conservatives plan to put a cap on immigration "nonsense" and asked Cameron: "Yes or no, do 80 per cent of immigrants come from the European Union, which would be affected by your cap? Yes or no?"

He did not get an answer.

David Cameron promoted traditional values such as family, work, security and social mobility, demanding "discipline" and the will to contribute to the country: "If you go on refusing the offer of a job you can do, you should lose your entitlement to benefits," he said.

With still a week to go until the general election on May 6, nothing is yet set in stone and the country remains in hopeful expectation for a change for the better – no matter who wins the election.

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