The fallout from the first general election debate has left viewers and voters with a bad taste in their mouths. The Conservatives’ disputed claim about Labour’s tax plans shows precisely the problems of adversarial debate formats: they favour soundbites, attack politics and rhetorical tactics that can be misleading.
Much of the debate involved Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer shouting over one another (and moderator Julie Etchingham shouting over both). This may explain why YouGov’s snap opinion poll found 62% of viewers found the debate “frustrating” to watch.
