No Debates Please, We’re British.

There has been much discussion of the influence of American campaign techniques on elections in the UK, but in spite of claims that UK politics is becoming increasingly presidential, one form that has not yet been imported in the televised debate between party leaders. In the 2001 election formal proposals were made by the television companies, but nothing came of this, and little political capital was made of the apparent failure of the Labour administration to take up the gauntlet. The lack of a 'presidential style' debate does not mean that the electorate fail to see televised head-to head confrontations, and the paper outlines examples of the various fora for political debate that were presented on the TV during the course of the campaign. The party-based structure of UK politics, the lack of a separate election for national leader, multiple minor parties, the vigorous pursuit of policy debates in the current electoral 'system', and tradition all seem currently to militate against leader debates - as well as the simple electoral calculation of whoever leads in the polls. Nevertheless the recent sharp decline in political turnout is concentrating political minds on the search for methods to engage citizens with politics and elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]