The first TV debate of the election campaign turned out to be a fiery matchup, with mixed views across Wednesday’s front pages despite a snap poll showing 51% of people thought Rishi Sunak performed best, with 49% voting for Sir Keir Starmer.
The Guardian leads with “Leaders clash on migration, tax and NHS in ill-tempered debate”. Political correspondent Eleni Courea notes that Starmer “hammered the Conservative record after 14 years in government”, while Sunak sought to portray the Labour leader as an “unreliable politician who was pursuing power for power’s sake”.
