Britain watches first ever TV election debate

“Ninety minutes that could change Britain”, headlines The Independent, as the leaders of Britain’s three main political parties lock horns on 15 April in the UK’s first ever live television election debate. While much attention is focused on the battle between PM Gordon Brown of Labour and David Cameron of the Conservatives, the London daily points out that an “unprecedented chance to reach a huge audience” has been handed to Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats. The Lib Dems currently hold only 63 out of 646 seats at Westminster, but with a recent Times poll putting the Tories only 3 points ahead of Labour at 36%, they could emerge, on 21%, as king-maker if neither of the two main parties comes up with a clear majority. “A hung parliament…bring it on,” runs the London daily’s leader, calling for a reform of the British first-past-the-post* electoral system, which gives the Lib Dems only half the seats they would garner under continental-style proportional representation.