Brown lags behind in Britain's first "TV election" (News Feature)

By Anna Tomforde Apr 30, 2010, 9:07 GMT

London - The X Factor has become a new phenomenon in British politics where the first ever live TV debates, combined with chatter on social-networking websites, has electrified the campaign for next week's election.

High-profile TV debates between the three contenders for the prime ministerial job have elbowed out old-fashioned campaigning, as their every word and gesture is analysed on the internet.

Like in the X Factor TV casting show, a winner is instantly declared. But if the rules of a celebrity beauty contest were applied, he should be counted out, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, 59, himself warned.

His conservative rival, 43-year-old David Cameron, did his best to display freshness and youth but was eclipsed by the Liberal's Nick Clegg who, also 43, took the audience by storm.

But after the last of three TV debates on Thursday, Cameron moved to the top spot for his performance in instant opinion polls, amid predictions that the Conservatives could emerge as the biggest party in the May 6 election.

The 'Cleggmania' sparked by round one of the TV debates - which are new to Britain - survived to round three Thursday, from which Cameron and Clegg were seen emerging neck-and-neck.

Clegg's strong performance, which significantly enhanced the Liberals's ratings in the opinion polls, will almost certainly mean that he will be called upon as powerbroker if neither of the two big parties win an overall majority on May 6.

Meanwhile, Brown trailed in third place in the ratings, following a lively and combative debate on the economy and immigration which was sealed by a polite handshake between the men.

'There is a lot to this job, and I know I don't get it right all the time,' conceded Brown, who had been savaged by the media for calling a pensioner a 'bigoted woman' on the campaign trail. He believed, wrongly, that his TV microphone had been turned off.

The debates, a novelty in Britain, have fired the electorate's imagination and brought politics to life, according to commentators.

The British people had displayed a 'ferocious appetite' for watching their leaders unmediated in the spotlight, said the Times newspaper. 'These debates have changed politics and this change will not be undone.'

Charlie Beckett, head of media think tank Polis at the London School of Economics (LSE), said Britain was experiencing an 'extraordinary media election' in which the voter had become totally engaged.

While the TV debates had set the agenda and the rhythm of the campaign, social media like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had become 'critical spaces for political conversation.'

'Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people are engaging in this election,' said Beckett. 'While they maybe less loyal, they have more understanding than ever before.'

In that context, it was ironic that Brown had been let down by the 'good old TV microphone', said Beckett.

But the electorate has not spoken yet. As opposed to the 15 million or so viewers of the live debates, 45 million Britons will have the chance to vote for a new government on May 6.

The big question is what they will decide in the quiet sanctitude of the polling booth, and whether they will banish the images and sounds of Britain's first digital elections from their minds.