The final TV showdown of the election campaign was a bad-tempered shouting match, at least from Rishi Sunak. Sir Keir was more measured. More prime minister, perhaps?
As he had to do as an oppressed, Mr Sunak went on the attack from start to finish and revealed a new campaign slogan: “Don’t surrender…”
He said this no less than 15 times during the 75-minute debate. That’s once every five minutes.
But just like the England-Slovenia case, Euros match 24 hours earlier, the result was a draw, exactly 50%-50%, according to YouGov pollsters.
Latest elections: PM ‘behaved badly’ in debate with Sir Keir
And, some would say, that like the game against England, it was actually a 0-0 draw.
Initially, the PM announced that he wanted to talk about taxes, while Mr Keir I wanted to talk about politicians playing. Hardly surprising.
As Sunak read prepared lines – and appeared to be looking at notes – it was a clever improvisation from Sir Keir that won the first round of applause.
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“If you listened more to the people in the audience, maybe you wouldn’t be so distant,” he said, in a familiar tone. Work line of attack.
But the PM was strong and won in discussions about illegal migrants crossing the channel.
Sir Keir would perhaps be more Prime Minister? Photo: Reuters
“Don’t hand over our borders to the Labor Party,” he appealed to the audience in the first of many “Don’t surrender…” appeals to voters.
He then challenged Sir Keir about illegal migrants: “What are you going to do with them?” And then came a good improvisation – or perhaps a prepared line of attack – from the PM.
“Are you going to sit with the ayatollahs? Are you going to sit with the Taliban?” he urged Sir Keir, earning applause this time.
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Host Mishal Husain also had a good line. When the Labor leader attacked Sunak for saying: “We should unite behind Liz Truss.”
“You know what it’s like to stand behind the leader of your party!” in a clear reference to Sir Keir’s support for Jeremy Corbynwhich gave him some uncomfortable moments in previous television confrontations during the election campaign.
Surprisingly, Mr Sunak did not respond to this. On this occasion, a bit like the English football team, they missed an open goal.
Political leaders face each other in their last television debate before the vote. Photo: PA
One of the best moments came when an audience member, Robert, asked a devastating question.
He said Sunak “was a good chancellor but is a mediocre prime minister” and “Sir Keir’s strings are being pulled by others in the Labor Party”.
And then came this killer question from Robert: “Are you two really the best we have to be the next Prime Minister of our great country?”
There were gasps from the audience and applause at the same time. Great question.
— Are you two really the best we have to be PM?
Another good question from the audience came when Judy told how her vinyl jazz record business had lost 90% of its trade with Europe since Brexit. What could be done to get a better trade deal, she asked.
Sunak, however, avoided this issue when talking about business rates and other UK taxes.
When it came to Brexit, it seemed like the Prime Minister was like a cracked record.
He said Sir Keir’s plans for better deals with the EU would mean more migration.
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But Sir Keir said Sunak was the most liberal prime minister on migration. “The numbers have skyrocketed,” he said.
The debate ended as it began, with Mr Sunak shouting over Sir Keir. It wasn’t a good look.
In his closing speeches, the PM emphasized the Conservatives‘ Charged £2,000 in employment tax, yet again. And once again he said: “Don’t surrender…”
And when the debate ended there was no handshake between the two, which is unusual in these TV confrontations.
At least party leaders usually pretend to be civil to each other.
There is clearly no love lost between these two. It showed. A 50-50 tie, YouGov said. Just like England in the Euro!
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