By the end, Sunak had probably “won” the encounter, though a snap poll afterwards suggested viewers felt it was 50-50.
Either way, the debate isn’t likely to change much when voters go to the polls. The truth is that this election is over, and the Conservatives have lost.
There’s a wider point, though. It may have been strategically canny, but Starmer’s ploy to make himself as small a target as possible for hostile newspapers to attack made for thin gruel for those watching.
And while failing to beat Sunak in a TV debate doesn’t matter, failing to win over the country really might. Starmer the man offering himself up to lead the U.K. appeared a decent enough human, but somewhat grey and remote. He gives away so little.
Again with the toolmaker
It’s become a standing joke that the Labour leader constantly references his father’s work as a toolmaker in an attempt to show his human side. During one TV grilling, the audience even laughed at him for it. It was reported afterwards that those sniggers had upset him, but he recited the same chapter of his backstory again this time.
Why? Was he not nimble enough to think of another personal anecdote? Or was he just obstinate in his determination not to be put off his stride by those jeers? It’s unclear — and that’s fascinating in itself. British voters know very little about the man they’re set to make prime minister next week.
