TV Debate Stalemate Unlikely To Shift Election Dial

Last night's TV debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer was unlikely to have shifted the dial significantly for the undecided electorate, suggest the responses from a panel of voters nationwide.

The two party leaders went head to head for an hour on ITV last night, in the first televised debate which covered everything from tax policy to immigration and the NHS. 

With the Conservatives trailing Labour by large, double-digit leads in the opinion polls just four weeks until the election, Sunak was under greater pressure to perform strongly. The PM was combative in his approach from the get go, repeatedly attacking Starmer on his plans for taxes and immigration. 

PoliticsHome is collaborating with Thinks Insight and Strategy over the course of the campaign, to gather a view on the contest from 50 panelists across five battleground constituencies across the country.  All of them voted for the Tories or the Scottish National Party in 2019, but are now planning to vote for other parties or are undecided how they will vote on 4 July.

Overall, around 20 people shared their thoughts on the debate having watched the whole thing or seen highlights. Their responses suggest that the event is unlikely to have a significant impact on overall public sentiment. 

Alice, from Swindon South, did not watch the programme last night and “didn’t even hear that the debate was on,” but after catching up with highlights, thought it “amounted to nothing and did not provide any confidence for me personally".

Peter in Wokingham watched a summary on BBC News but “wasn’t particularly impressed with either individual".

The respondents on the panel were pretty evenly split on who “won” the debate.

Of the 14 who shared their views on who “won” the