Salmond vs. Darling Part 2

The Salmond vs Darling second television encounter leaves the debate finely balanced says Weber Shandwick Scotland‘s Public Affairs Director Conor Magowan.

The war rages on for another three weeks. I wrote previously that undecided voters were the prize that both men should be fighting for. Unfortunately, last night’s debate is unlikely to have provided the answers that undecided voters are looking for.

This turned out to be an evening for the grass roots activists on both sides of the debate. It was also an opportunity for Salmond to redress the balance after what was widely perceived to be a weak first outing.

My colleagues Moray Macdonald (on the Today show @1hr 49min) and Alex Deane (in the Independent on Sunday) both set out the pre-debate expectations and unsurprisingly, they both hit the nail on the head.

Salmond was at a different level compared to the previous debate. There certainly wasn’t any evidence of a hangover from the last outing. No mention of aliens or driving on the right hand side of the road this time round.

Darling, who had most to lose following a solid outing in the first debate, would have been hoping for a score draw to avoid Yes momentum. Unfortunately for him, Salmond dictated most of the exchanges and it certainly seemed to this observer that Darling spent more time on the back foot than his opponent.

Salmond went hard on threats to the NHS from Westminster, which Darling appeared to be talking about for an age, and set out a more coherent line on the currency. He also once again rattled the former Chancellor when he asked him to name three job creating powers that Holyrood had responsibility over.

Darling returned to the currency as his central line of attack. Again, undecided voters are unlikely to be any clearer following Salmond’s response; however Darling and Better Together know how central and important the currency issue is to voters.

The outcome? For most, a clear win for Salmond. An ICM poll of 500 voters gave the verdict 71% – 29%. The Yes campaign certainly were most active on social media channels following the exchange and they’ll be renewed with vigour as we head into the final 3 weeks of campaigning.

While Darling had a more difficult task last night, Better Together remain ahead in the polls. Their campaign will not be overly concerned with the result as at times it turned into a shouting match, with Salmond the chief protagonist. It’s unlikely this was the ‘game changer’ that Yes needed to shift polls in their favour.

It’s now all about ‘momentum’ as the 18^th September looms large on the horizon. Both sides will claim it, but who actually has it is impossible to define. Roll on the 19^thSeptember and we’ll finally know what the “sovereign will of the Scottish people” actually is.

You can find this article and further coverage of the Scottish Independence Debate on the ScotlandVotes website, brought to you by Weber Shandwick.