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Leaders’ Debate: Highs and lows of each party leader

The party leaders
The party leaders

Here are some of the high and low points for the seven party leaders during the live TV debate:

Nick Clegg

Election-debate-Clegg.jpg

High:

In scenes reminiscent of the Beatles break-up, the coalition well and truly splintered tonight, as the Lib Dem leader laid into David Cameron, by starting the debate with an attack on the Tories’ tax plans.

He told the audience: “Remarkably, the Conservative Party have said they are not going to ask the richest in the society to make a single extra penny of contribution to balancing the books through the tax system.”

Low:

Unlike his previous outing in 2010, there was no mention of the phrase  “I agree with Nick”.

Indeed, Mr Clegg struggled to find any friends among his six rivals.

Leanne Wood

Leanne Wood
Leanne Wood

High:

The Plaid Cymru leader delivered a killer blow to Nigel Farage, chiding him “You ought to be ashamed of yourself” when he complained about foreigners with HIV receiving free treatment on the NHS.

She warned him that his comments were “dangerous” and “dividing communities”, earning her the first round of a applause from the audience.

Low:

Pollsters ComRes ITV News had just 2% believing Ms Wood was the best performer in the two-hour debate.

Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage

 

High:

The Ukip leader had his comedian hat on tonight, when he lampooned David Cameron over his standing within the EU.

He said: “Mrs (Angela) Merkel, who is the real boss in Europe as we all know, has made it perfectly clear we can negotiate lots of things over the next couple of years but we cannot renegotiate the free movement of people.”

Low:

While he was quick to crack the jokes, he was also quick to lose his temper.

As the leaders argued over how to “balance the books” he turned red, threw his arms up by his head and cried: “What’s going on here? Can we get real please?”

David Cameron

David Cameron
David Cameron

High:

The Prime Minister took the opportunity to take a shot at his Labour counterpart.

He told the audience: “There’s only one group of politicians anywhere in this United Kingdom who have cut the NHS in the last five years and that was the Labour Party in Wales. So when you hear Ed Miliband’s promises, think about that.”

Low:

But he found himself in awkward territory when Green Party leader Natalie Bennett challenged him over why Britain has not taken more Syrian refugees.

She told him: “The UN has asked us very loudly and clearly to take our share of the most vulnerable.”

Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon

High:

When she claimed there is nothing Nigel Farage would not blame on foreigners, the Ukip leader’s expression suggested she might have a point.

Low:

It was a good night for the First Minister, who had no obvious chinks in her armour, and was the best performer according to a YouGov poll.

Ed Miliband

High:

No bacon sandwiches!! Ed Miliband smirked and laughed his way through Cameron’s argument on the EU – telling him: “David, I’m wondering what world you live in.”

Low:

The Labour leader came up short on zero-hour contracts, when David Cameron pointed out that “about 70 Labour MPs employ people on zero-hour contracts”.

To cheers and applause, he sneered at Labour for “not getting to the part that they practise what they preach”.

Natalie Bennett

Natalie Bennett
Natalie Bennett

High:

The Green Party leader did not appear to suffer a recurrence of the ’brain fade” which blighted her famous “excruciating” radio interview on LBC Radio.

Low:

She was cut off as she got to her key message in declaring “we have to stop trashing our planet” in answer to a question about whether Britain’s young people have an optimistic future.