The Great Leadership Debate

It has recently been announced that there will be a televised debate during the run up to the forthcoming general election. This will give us a chance to look at the three main party leaders Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg and to judge for ourselves who would make the best leader.

So let's take a look at each of the three party leaders :

1. David Cameron

David Cameron -- or 'Dave' as he prefers to be known -- is probably the most credible leader that the Conservative party has had for many years. But will he make a good Prime Minister? It has been said of him that he is a man with no substance, but only a fool would reveal details of his party's policies before it is necessary to do so. This would, after all, simply give your political opponents opportunities to steal your policies and present them as their own. New Labour has shown itself to be very good at this.

It is certainly true that Dave is a charismatic figure who has, during the recent debacle over MPs expenses, proved that he is capable of strong leadership. The inclusion of former opponents for the leadership into his Cabinet displays a certain confidence which is greatly encouraging. However, his recent assertion that the electorate will have a simple choice between Gordon Brown and himself also displays an unsettling arrogance. This arrogance has in the past been proven to be to the detriment of the party.

If, however, the election is to decided on personalities, then at least Dave seems to have one whereas Gordon seems on occasions to have had a charisma bypass.

2. Gordon Brown

It is undoubtedly true that Gordon Brown is an accomplished and able politician. Unfortunately, in the eyes of many of the electorate, the word politician is frequently taken to mean arrogant and devious. It is interesting to note that during his recent testimony to the Chilcott enquiry he ably showed his ability to answer the question without answering the question.

During an interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight prior to the 1997 election Mr Brown was repeatedly asked whether he was planning to increase National Insurance rates. His response to this was to say that he had no plans to change the current taxation bands. When pressed by Paxman he simply repeated the same answer. Whilst it is true that he has done exactly what he said in relation to taxation -- notwithstanding the recent credit crunch which forced Alistair Darling to introduce a new 50% band -- we should remember what subsequent increases he made made to national insurance contributions.

The most worrying things about Gordon are firstly that he has never been elected either by the electorate or by his own party. Perhaps his opponents were too scared to stand against him in case they would have to face his temper afterwards? Secondly, he has surrounded himself in his Cabinet by people like Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis who have also never been elected. This cannot be a good thing for democracy.

Mr Brown should either be given a mandate at the forthcoming election or kicked out. Nothing else will really do.

3. Nick Clegg

David Cameron's assertion that it is a two horse race has already been mentioned. This has upset the Liberal Democrats in a big way. However, it is undoubtedly true.

In a recent interview, Vince Cable -- an able economic spokesman for the Lib Dems who has wasted his talents by joining the wrong party -- admitted that he had no chance of becoming the next Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nick Clegg should remember whilst he is voicing his protestations of unfairness that he has about the same chance of being the next Prime Minister.

A hung parliament cannot possibly be a good thing, but if the latest opinion polls are to be believed then this is a very possible outcome to the forthcoming general election. Mr Clegg could well hold the balance of power but that is about the best he can hope for.

Whilst the Lib Dems appear to be very good at local government level, it must be a bad thing for this country that they split the vote during national elections. Whether you are a Labour or Conservative supporter I am sure you would be glad to see the back of the Lib Dems. Of course, if you are a LibDem supporter, you will think this is rubbish.


So should we vote for?

This is not really the big question. The big question is whether you should vote at all. Whoever you decide to vote for, you have an obligation to exercise that vote. It could be argued that voting should be compulsory as per the Australian model. There if you do not vote you are fined but you do have the option on the ballot paper to positively abstain. This would be a far better thing for British democracy and would unarguably improve turnout.

When it comes down to it, you have no right to complain about what you get if you do not vote. Bear this in mind come election day...