As somebody who watched last night’s debate and wanted Cameron to perform well, I feel a little bit like Liverpool fans probably felt following their defeat to Wimbledon in the 1988 FA Cup final. Largely, wondering how an earth they lost to a lowly under dog who should never have been on that stage. I exaggerate of course. I am sure this debate will not have anywhere near the effect that such detailed analysis and reaction (this post included!) would suggest, but nevertheless it must be said this was a disappointing performance from Cameron.
Cameron never seemed to get going; his answers lacked direction, focus and a consistency of theme. This was all the more frustrating, given the strength of theme in the manifesto launch on Tuesday. At times he even looked a little distracted. He was under huge pressure going into the debate as he was the only one with anything to lose and the one with the greatest expectation of performance. Unfortunately, his performance faltered under the weight of pressure.
Don’t get me wrong, his performance was still very good, still very solid; the content of his answers clearly outshone the other two, but it fell short of the Cameron performance we have come to expect. The sort of breathtaking, game-changing speech he gave in the Tory leadership campaign in 2005 ... where was this Cameron?
It must be said, much of Cameron’s performance was due to a strategic decision. The pollsters have told him that the electorate don’t like it when he is aggressive, and therefore time and time again when Brown spouted absolute rubbish, Cameron decided not to hammer him as he would have instinctively done had he been at Prime Ministers question time. We shall see whether this strategy pays off, but my gut feeling is Cameron needs to be a bit more free and less scripted and stage-managed.
As for the supposed winner, Clegg, this rather emphasises the absurdity that he was there at all. Less than 15% of people bothered to vote for his party at the last election, so why does that result justify his appearance at a Prime Ministers debate, when he is never going to be a Prime Minister? Of course he did well- he had absolutely nothing to lose! Given that however, I must be fair to him and give credit where credit is due. Content aside, his performance was slick, confident and engaging (I particularly liked his hand in the pocket stance when the others were speaking- proving his absolute relaxed confidence). In a sense, one moment defined his confidence when he asked for a questioner from the audience to reveal himself as he couldn’t see him properly, and then spoke to him directly. I am afraid Cameron’s less than par performance was summed up when he attempted to copy this a little later and fell flat.
A word on the worst performer of the night. No, not Gordon Brown; he was merely his monotone and shameful self, as expected (I must give him credit for getting the only laugh of the night- although it was an incredibly awkwardly delivered joke). It was, in fact, Alistair Stewart . His interruptions were completely out of context (sometimes it seemed as if he was being controlled by a random machine as he spurted ‘Mr Brown!’ ‘Mr Cameron!’ ‘Mr Clegg!’) and his limitations were sometimes only a few seconds after the speaker had started. His night was summed up when he announced the wrong day for the regional debate. I never thought I would be looking forward to Dimbleby taking the reigns again!
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