Tweet of the Day
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Labour Leader, Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) condemns the Prime Minister’s failure to participate in last night’s ‘Challengers’ Debate’: “David Cameron has decided not to attend tonight’s debate. If you're applying for the job of PM, you should turn up to the job interview.”
Picture of the Day
This picture of Labour Leader, Ed Miliband’s facial expression, apparently listening to Nigel Farage discuss immigration, was shared over 2,700 times after last night’s debate. It has now been dubbed Miliband’s “oh please!” moment, and led to the creation of an internet meme.
The Challenger’s Debate
Connect reviews last night’s debate
Yesterday evening saw the so called ‘Challengers’ go head-to-head in the second election debate. David Cameron and Nick Clegg were not included in the debate, and the emphasis on David Cameron’s non-attendance played a key role in Ed Miliband’s, and Labour’s, strategy with #Where’sDave trending all night. In his closing speech Ed Miliband again called on David Cameron to debate him one-to-one.
During the debate, Ed Miliband faced repeat calls from SNP Leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and Plaid Cymru Leader, Leanne Wood to reject austerity and form a “progressive alliance”. However he rejected calls from Nicola Sturgeon to form a coalition with the SNP, stating firmly that he intended to win a majority. Nigel Farage did little to win the studio audience’s favour after accusing them of being a “left-wing audience” before suggesting that “the real audience are sitting at home”. David Dimbleby was quick to slap down his suggestion, assuring Farage that the audience had been "specially chosen not by the BBC, but by an independent polling organisation for balance between all parties." Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett drew on her background (she’s Australian) to defend immigration, winning plenty of support on Twitter.
In a snap poll of 1,013 viewers conducted by Survation for the Daily Mirror following the debate, 35% judged Ed Miliband to be the winner, against 31% for Nicola Sturgeon, 27% for Nigel Farage, 5% for Natalie Bennett and 2% for Leanne Wood.
Gaffe of the Day
Labour mix up their posters
Labour candidate Cat Smith is trying to overturn a slight Conservative majority in the Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency but she will not win many votes in the seat with the billboard below.
The wrong candidate appeared on the Labour billboard in Carlisle. Instead of featuring local candidate Lee Sherriff it encouraged people to vote for Cat Smith, whose seat is 60 miles away. Lee Sherriff was not impressed telling a local paper: “It’s not like Carlisle and Lancaster are close to each other either in the alphabet or geographically.”
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