Politics in the UK

In Great Britain, almost every household owns a TV. The TV is therefore a suitable medium to broadcast the debates in the upcoming election. However, a prime minister In Great Britain have never been in a live TV debate, and debated against the two main opposition parties.


There is therefore a moment in political history when the primeminister and leader of the Labor party Gordon Brown, have agreed to take part in a TV Debate against the leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, and the leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron.


During this historical event the politicians get an opportunity to express their view on politics in front of millions of viewers. The party leaders are also taking a huge risk when they participate in the debate. They may increase their support after the debate, but they may also lose votes if they deliver bad figure during the debate. It is therefore substantial for the political parties, that their leader delivers a good performance during the debates.

In order to make the debate as fair as possible the political parties have together with the TV companies BBC, ITV and Sky news (who will podcast the debates) agreed on 76 strict rules for the debate. The audience will not be allowed to respond to leaders' answers and applause will be restricted to the beginning and end of the debates. Every debate will be 90 minutes long. The debates will start to debate a selected topic, and then the studio audiences will be able to ask direct questions on any subject, with viewers doing the same via e-mail.

The first debate will be broadcast by ITV from the north-west of England. The moderator will be ITV newsreader Alastair Stewart and the selected topic will be domestic policies.

The second debate will focus on global issues. The moderator will be Sky's political editor Adam Boulton and the debate will take place in south-west England.

The third debate will be hosted by David Dimbleby and the BBC in the Midlands. The theme will be economy.
In contrast to Great Britain, there have been arranged TV debates between presidential candidates in the United States for decades. That also includes debates between the sitting president and new candidates. The first general presidential debate was arranged as early as in 1960. Since then there have been many arranged many more, and some of them have been described as crucial for the outcome of the presidential election. In 1980, the sitting president Jimmy Carter had a narrow lead over Ronald Reagan in a race considered "too close to call." However, Reagan, with years of experience in front of a camera as an actor, came across better than Carter and was judged by voters to have won the debate by a wide margin. Because this particular event, the election went from being a close race, to become a landslide victory for Regan. You can see the full video from the debate here. Do you find Regan upbeat and positive? Does Carter seem comfortable, how often does he smile?

Remember, because of one debate, the politics in the worlds most powerful country was pushed in an entirely different direction. If the candidate’s wants to have only one good day at work, then they should have it one the day of the TV debate.

P.S, Jimmy carter was a very experienced politician. From 1966 to 1970 when he promoted his candidature for the governor position in Georgia he held over 1 800 speeches (!) And when he debated against Regan in 1980, he had been president for tree years. Had carter only a bad day when he debated against Regan, ore was he a bad speaker? Take a look at his “Crisis of Confidence" Speech and decide for your self.