Cameron's low-risk approach seems to have paid off

David Cameron tried for weeks to avoid taking part in a live television debate with Ed Miliband for two overriding reasons: he feared that he could slip up and he agonised that the Labour leader would surprise voters by being better than they expected.

In the event, neither of those things happened during the course of a two-hour ITV election debate on Thursday night. Mr Cameron looked like he was out to secure a nil-nil draw and that was what he achieved.

There was plenty of action in between. Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish National party leader confirmed herself as a formidable player on the UK political scene, while Ukip's Nigel Farage put in a typically populist and divisive performance. Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader, was combative and energised.

But as the studio audience drifted away from MediaCity into the Salford night, the first polls came in suggesting that viewers at home were divided about who had come out on top. The seven-way leaders' debate did not look like an election game-changer.

According to YouGov Ms Sturgeon won the debate with Mr Cameron in second place; ICM gave Ed Miliband a narrow victory over Mr Cameron; Com Res put Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband neck-and-neck.

For all the spinning after the debate, this did not appear to be a transformative moment for Mr Miliband - the moment (feared by Tory strategists) when the Labour leader finally clicked with the electorate. The two leaders remain deadlocked.

Mr Miliband was competent but predictable, focusing on his traditional themes of the NHS and zero hours contracts. His only awkward moment came when Mr Clegg challenged him to apologise "for crashing the economy".

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Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, claimed that it was Mr Cameron who had failed to sparkle, claiming that at times he was "the invisible man" - a peripheral figure standing at the end of the seven-leader line-up.

That was part of the prime minister's strategy. He hoped that by rising above the occasionally raucous debate unfolding around him, he could prove his point that the country needs a "competent" leader in a time of political "chaos".

In the event the debate, which also featured Green and Plaid Cyrmu leaders, never degenerated into chaos, thanks partly to well-judged moderation by the host, ITV News's Julie Etchingham.

But Mr Cameron's low-risk approach - dubbed "masterful" by Mr Osborne - was never intended to capture the public imagination; it was a safety-first performance intended to avoid a political pratfall.

Lucy Powell, the Labour MP who ran Ed Miliband's Labour leadership campaign, said Mr Cameron's performance reminded her of the approach of David Miliband in that contest, who thought he could win "without making any effort".

<>She said: "You have to be hungry to win elections. David Cameron thinks he can sit back and win, but he is wrong."

Elsewhere Mr Farage gave a typically "Marmite" performance, with viewers naming both the worst and best performer in the first half of the debate, when he lamented the NHS for treating foreign patients with HIV.

Mr Clegg was robust in his criticisms of David Cameron and gave a convincing explanation of why the Liberal Democrats would have an important role in a hung parliament anchoring a new government in the centre ground.

Nicola Sturgeon was the undoubted star performer, a studied performance in reassurance, admitting that she wanted Scotland to be independent but in the meantime she wanted to work constructively in the UK parliament.

Labour claimed that 10m people had watched the debate - although official figures are not available until Friday - and said that Mr Miliband had shown a passion and optimism that would win over voters.

But Mr Cameron's calculation in agreeing to take part in the seven-way debate was that it was the safest format in which to engage Mr Miliband; in that he appears to have been right.

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