No clear winner emerges from UK's election TV debate

A seven-way television debate between British party leaders ahead of next month's general election failed to produce a clear winner on Thursday evening, with the participants mainly sticking to safe ground and avoiding obvious slip-ups.

Opinion polls published immediately after the debate gave conflicting results, variously putting David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nicola Sturgeon and Nigel Farage in the lead and the other three participants a long way behind.

The contest was the only occasion for the Tory and Labour leaders to appear together on television before the election. It saw extensive debate on the British economy, the National Health Service, immigration and government spending cuts but almost no discussion of foreign affairs beyond membership of the European Union.

David Cameron gave a more assured performance than in his lacklustre interview with Jeremy Paxman last week, the result of intense rehearsals over the last two days.

Positioned on the far right side of the stage, Mr Cameron often found himself fending off attacks from all six of his opponents, but at times seemed almost a peripheral figure. Labour claimed he was "the invisible man". Conservative strategists conceded the prime minister had little to gain from televised debates and their overriding Tory objective was to avoid defeat.

"In the end it says more about Ed Miliband's leadership qualities that Nicola Sturgeon clearly overshadowed him throughout the debate," said George Osborne, chancellor, referring to the Scottish Nationalist leader's strong showing in post-debate polls and tweets.

Ed Miliband was critical of the coalition's austerity plans and Mr Cameron's close relationship with City hedge funds, insisting he had a more optimistic vision of Britain where the economy worked for everyone. But he came under heavy attack from the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists for supporting "austerity light".

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In one dramatic exchange, Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, challenged Mr Miliband to apologise for "crashing the economy". Mr Miliband accepted only that the last Labour government should have regulated banks more effectively but he also pointed out that the Conservatives favoured lighter regulation of banks before the financial crisis.

Mr Clegg argued during the debate that only his party could keep a future government in "the centre ground", claiming that the Tories would cut too much and Labour would borrow too much.

Five years after his last election debate in Manchester spawned "Cleggmania", the Lib Dem leader was scathing of Mr Cameron's plan to balance the books without asking the wealthy to "pay a single penny more through the tax system". Party activists, however, are likely to be disappointed that Mr Clegg came in fifth place in the post-debate polls.

Nigel Farage, Ukip leader, rarely strayed beyond his favoured subject of immigration, including lamenting the fact that the NHS treated foreigners suffering from HIV and claiming that 60 per cent of those diagnosed HIV positive were not born in the UK.

The Ukip leader, perspiring under the television lights, was criticised by Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru who said he should be "ashamed of himself". The comment elicited a rare round of applause from the studio audience.

Mr Farage claimed that all of the other leaders were "the same" and all supported an "open door" approach to immigration. His populism divided voters; a half-time poll showed people thought he was both the best and worst performer.

Ms Sturgeon put in an assured performance, leading criticism of what she claimed was the coalition government's "blind commitment to austerity".

But she struck a reassuring note, saying that while she wanted Scottish independence, she wanted to play a constructive role in running Britain in the event of a hung parliament.

Her strong performance might dent Conservative claims that English voters should fear the prospect of a weak Labour government propped up by Ms Sturgeon's SNP.

During the debate Ms Sturgeon emerged as the most eloquent spokesman for what she calls "a progressive alliance" - including the Green party, led by Natalie Bennett, and Plaid Cymru - against further austerity.

Ms Bennett, who has endured several uncomfortable interviews in recent weeks, made a passionate case for Britain admitting more refugees and increasing its level of overseas aid.

The two-hour debate was chaired by ITV's Julie Etchingham, who largely managed to keep order during exchanges which occasionally threatened to descend into a shouting match between the participants.

Mr Cameron agreed to share a platform with Ed Miliband only if smaller parties were represented, a move which he hoped would allow him to illustrate the risk of "chaos" if the election results in a hung parliament and multi-party deals.

The prime minister also insisted that, if Mr Farage took part, then other smaller parties should also be involved - an attempt to dilute the impact of the Ukip leader, who was deemed by bookmakers the favourite to win before the debate.

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