Are elections about policies or personalities? This week the two main political parties in the UK will be desperately trying to make policy matters, not personality, the main issue.

In particular, the Conservatives and Labour are taking aim at what they claim are the ‘eccentric’ policies of the Liberal Democrats, after Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg emerged as the undisputed winner of the first-ever televised debate between the leaders of the three main parties in the UK.

Clegg came over as the voice of reason and moderation and positioned himself as the change candidate, representing a genuine alternative to the old enemies in the UK’s usual two-party political fight.

Now he will be under pressure and the Tories and Labour alike want to draw attention to Lib-Dem policies that they think are misguided and not properly thought out.

In some ways the rise of Clegg from nowhere to a threat to the Labour-Conservative duopoly after one 90 minute debate is an indictment of the UK’s political system.

Parliament’s prime minister question-time is seen as the weekly punch-up between Brown and Cameron, with Clegg’s interventions little more than an afterthought.

After the Chancellor presents the budget, the main opposition party replies first. By the time the Lib-Dem leader speaks, the chamber is rapidly emptying and his response gets little coverage.

And in a very revealing article in the press, a former editor of The Sun, the UK’s leading tabloid paper, reveals that he never met the leader of the Lib-Dems and didn’t send any staff to cover the Lib-Dem annual conference.

It seems that The Sun had a deliberate policy, no doubt approved by its owner Rupert Murdoch, of only giving credence to the main parties that could form a government. The only exception to this was a 1990s extra-marital fling by then Lib-Dem leader Paddy Ashdown which produced the memorable tabloid headline, ‘It’s Paddy Pantsdown!’

So just by getting equal air-time in the TV debate, Clegg has gained massively in exposure and many people liked what they saw.

Brown looks dour, or faintly menacing when he smiles, and is associated with recent economic problems, while Cameron comes over as a slick City banker type, or the PR executive he once was. In contrast, Clegg looks more like the person the average Briton wants to be, or to have representing them.

The rise of Clegg and the Lib-Dems also poses interesting tactical questions for the main parties. Cameron is now saying ‘vote Clegg and get Brown’, while Labour are, on one hand, hoping the Lib-Dems can take sufficient votes from the Tories to keep them from office, while not doing too much damage to their own vote. Certainly the chances of a hung Parliament have increased hugely and this election now appears to be entering uncharted territory.

One rather cynical calculation in the minds of the Labour politicos could be that sharing power with the Lib-Dems is the best they can achieve. So the attacks on the Lib-Dem policies could be more strident from the Right, as British political forces start to realign themselves.

hairy girls онлайн займ по паспортузайм на киви кошелек без привязки картызайм на киви 1000 рублей