Last night (Thur., 15 April 2010), I had the privilege of watchin
g history in the making, for the first-ever British prime ministerial candidates debated on television. Technically speaking, the prime minister of Her Majesty’s Government is appointed by the Queen (Act of Settlement 1701, Art. 1); however it is by convention of the constitution that the reigning monarch appoints the leader of the political party which controls the most seats in the House of Commons.
The first televised U.K. prime minister debate was almost 50 years after the first-ever televised American presidential debate, which occurred on 26 Sept. 1960 between the Senator from Mass., John F. Kennedy, and the U.S. Vice President, Richard Nixon; and was one of four debates held prior to the November election, which saw Kennedy elected as youngest American president. Nixon arrived at the first debate in an ill-fitting suit, and refused make-up to improve his colour and lighten his perpetual ‘5:00 o'clock shadow’. Kennedy, by contrast, had spent early Sept. campaigning in California. He was tan, confident, and well-rested. Half of the 70 million Americans who watched the first debate said it influenced their opinion, while over 6 per cent reported their vote was the result of the debate alone. Subsequently, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Italy, and Japan established a tradition of televised debates between contenders wanting to be head of government. It remains quite puzzling as to why Great Britain is nearly half-a-century late in establishing a televised debate norm.
Gordon Brown (incumbent prime minister and leader of the Labour Party), David Cameron (leader of the Conservative Party) and Nick Clegg (leader of the Liberal-Democrat Party) sparred in front of a live studio audience of several hundred citizens selected to represent various regions, economic classes, and minority groups from across the United Kingdom. However, it was the 10 million Brits who tuned in to watch the historic first-ever televised debated that was the ‘real’ target audience of the three candidates.
David Cameron had apparently never watched a televised debate before, as he seemed rather confused as to where to look at the camera and on top of that he seemed unable to relax and look human, but instead wanted to answer each question with a pre-memorized response. Nick Clegg, a young guy, appeared to have taken lessons right out of the John F. Kennedy ‘play book’, as he seemed tan, relaxed, and very comfortable in-front of the camera, although he did look a bit nervous at times. Gordon Brown, who was going for the Winston Churchill look by displaying a few extra stones, deep bags under his eyes, and making an appeal to being a war time leader, seemed at times to forget he was the incumbent prime minister, as he vacillated between being a confident leader and someone who was not sure what was going on.
The day after the debate, every major British newspaper reported Nick Clegg as the winner, although numerically speaking his party will not win a majority,
however it is more than likely there will be a hung parliament and Labour and Lib-Dems will form a government together. The scenario seems more than likely, especially since Brown rarely launched an attack against Clegg. I watched this debate in a room filled with students at the Tiviot, the University of Edinburgh’s student union. The overwhelming majority of the students were in favour of Gordon Brown, a native of Scotland and an alumnus of the University of Edinburgh.
g history in the making, for the first-ever British prime ministerial candidates debated on television. Technically speaking, the prime minister of Her Majesty’s Government is appointed by the Queen (Act of Settlement 1701, Art. 1); however it is by convention of the constitution that the reigning monarch appoints the leader of the political party which controls the most seats in the House of Commons.The first televised U.K. prime minister debate was almost 50 years after the first-ever televised American presidential debate, which occurred on 26 Sept. 1960 between the Senator from Mass., John F. Kennedy, and the U.S. Vice President, Richard Nixon; and was one of four debates held prior to the November election, which saw Kennedy elected as youngest American president. Nixon arrived at the first debate in an ill-fitting suit, and refused make-up to improve his colour and lighten his perpetual ‘5:00 o'clock shadow’. Kennedy, by contrast, had spent early Sept. campaigning in California. He was tan, confident, and well-rested. Half of the 70 million Americans who watched the first debate said it influenced their opinion, while over 6 per cent reported their vote was the result of the debate alone. Subsequently, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Italy, and Japan established a tradition of televised debates between contenders wanting to be head of government. It remains quite puzzling as to why Great Britain is nearly half-a-century late in establishing a televised debate norm.
Gordon Brown (incumbent prime minister and leader of the Labour Party), David Cameron (leader of the Conservative Party) and Nick Clegg (leader of the Liberal-Democrat Party) sparred in front of a live studio audience of several hundred citizens selected to represent various regions, economic classes, and minority groups from across the United Kingdom. However, it was the 10 million Brits who tuned in to watch the historic first-ever televised debated that was the ‘real’ target audience of the three candidates.David Cameron had apparently never watched a televised debate before, as he seemed rather confused as to where to look at the camera and on top of that he seemed unable to relax and look human, but instead wanted to answer each question with a pre-memorized response. Nick Clegg, a young guy, appeared to have taken lessons right out of the John F. Kennedy ‘play book’, as he seemed tan, relaxed, and very comfortable in-front of the camera, although he did look a bit nervous at times. Gordon Brown, who was going for the Winston Churchill look by displaying a few extra stones, deep bags under his eyes, and making an appeal to being a war time leader, seemed at times to forget he was the incumbent prime minister, as he vacillated between being a confident leader and someone who was not sure what was going on.
The day after the debate, every major British newspaper reported Nick Clegg as the winner, although numerically speaking his party will not win a majority,
however it is more than likely there will be a hung parliament and Labour and Lib-Dems will form a government together. The scenario seems more than likely, especially since Brown rarely launched an attack against Clegg. I watched this debate in a room filled with students at the Tiviot, the University of Edinburgh’s student union. The overwhelming majority of the students were in favour of Gordon Brown, a native of Scotland and an alumnus of the University of Edinburgh. 