Hague Survives UK Election Debate
Politico
LONDON — Britain’s acting prime minister, William Hague of the National Party, came out of a four-way electoral debate Monday alive.
The debate was the only one he will take part in during the campaign for the country’s first repeat election in its modern history, to be held December 7.
Hague, faced two newcomers who have shaken up the two-party dominance: the far-left UPA, and centrist Unity.
Reflecting the political shift Britain has undergone, the debate was the first to put the UPA and Unity on the same footing as National and the SDP.
Hague also had to contend with his traditional rival, Social Democrat Andy Burnham, whom he had already debated in July.
Over the two-hour exchange, opposition leaders spent most of their time criticising Hague’s austerity policies.
Hague defended his record, saying: “To govern is difficult, to preach is easy.”
Hague's bet is that he will fare better in new elections, but the future doesn’t look promising. He may well end up winning the ballot again, only to fail to put together a ruling coalition. He may even be rejected as a viable candidate.
Audiences were curious how Hague would respond to his much more telegenic rivals.
Hague wasn’t brilliant, but he didn’t make any terrible mistakes. He survived the debate by deploying his usual weapons: the economic recovery card, his experience, and clichés about how good a country Britain is.
"You don’t come here to do an internship, you need to come here already grown up,” he lectured his three rivals, highlighting his main rival Bell Ribeiro-Addy's inexperience, being only 29 years old, and an MP for only a few months. He criticised the others for sharing a “sad view” of their country.
Hague took a beating when the debate turned to corruption, as it happened during the last campaign with Burnham. This time it was Sugar who pulled the trigger on the acting prime minister, who responded by calling Sugar an “inquisitor.”
In a conservative debate, with all candidates focused on avoiding mistakes, Sugar was the most aggressive.
The liberal leader of Unity pushed ahead with his campaign strategy of media visibility over precise policy proposals.
Sugar hammered Hague on the issue he knew would be most effective: corruption.
Brits consider corruption the second most important problem in the country, behind unemployment.
Hague's National Party has weathered repeated allegations of graft over the last few years. In response millions of regular National voters defected to Unity in December.
Sugar accused Hague of having received more than €400,000 in tainted funds, referring to a pending National corruption case. He suggested the acting prime minister should resign for the good of the country.
“It is very difficult to trust you anymore and you keep prioritising your chair over the country,” Sugar argued.
Sugar also went for Ribeiro-Addy’s jugular, portraying her as the champion of the Greek-based model of economic failure.
“Don’t dress up like a Social Democrat, don’t hide the wolf in the sheep’s clothing,” he told Ribeiro-Addy.
Andy Burnham, seen by many as a dead man walking, seems determined to struggle until the end. During the debate, he tried to communicate a few simple ideas. First, he could be the prime minister by now if Ribeiro-Addy hadn’t rejected him. Second, the UPA supports the self-determination of Scotland, in contrast with his SDP, which defends the union. Third, he was still available to lead what he called a “progressive government of change.”
He repeated the first of these messages around a dozen times.
“I keep thinking that you should have resigned, but you are still the acting prime minister thanks to Ms Ribeiro-Addy,” he told Hague. “I tried to become Prime Minister and the two extremes rejected me,” he added.
When Ribeiro-Addy argued she didn’t want Scotland to leave Britain, Burnham countered by showing a newspaper headline of Mhairi Black - the UPA's Scottish leader saying she would vote for independence.
The Social Democrats believe they can win back up to one third of the People's Alliance's 7 million July voters. They’re targeting those who are dissatisfied with Ribeiro-Addy's’ “intransigence” during coalition negotiations. If they manage to win back a million, they still won’t beat Hague, but Burnham will have a second chance at trying to head a ruling coalition.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the 29-year-old People's Party leader, played it safe Monday. That’s likely the result of an attempt to cement the advantage polls say she has over the SDP — her priority is to beat the Social Democrats into third place.
Ribeiro-Addy left her revolutionary gestures at home and tried to project a serious statesman image. She used lots of data, quoting institutions like the OECD, defended Barack Obama and softened her language.
She ignored Sugar and tried to antagonise Hague to portray herself as the true alternative to National.
Ribeiro-Addy also argued the Social Democrats, with whom he wants to rule after the elections, are the People's Party's natural allies. She praised some of Burnham’s proposals and argued they should both be fighting against Hague instead.
“You are mistaking your rival Andy,” she countered after the Social Democrat criticised her over coalition negations.
Ribeiro-Addy also pressured Burnham to reveal if the SDP will help a National-led government or if it will support a UPA coalition.
“There are two options: a government with National or a government with People's Alliance and the SDP together,” Ribeiro-Addy said.
Burnham didn’t say whether he will support Ribeiro-Addy as prime minister if he ends up in third place, as polls forecast.
The debate made it clear: There’s no easy solution to Britain's political stalemate. Polls also suggest that no individual party will gain a governing majority.
The four leaders each blamed one another for their failure to reach agreement on a coalition government.
The four leaders pledged to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of the impasse of the last six months. “There will be no further elections,” said Ribeiro-Addy. Sugar said he would support “a government of change”, without going into further details. Burnham said he would be mobilising support among his party’s grassroots, while Hague called on Unity and the SDP to form a grand coalition
Last week, the YouGov put the National in the lead on 37% of the vote, compared with 34% in December. The UPA were second on 21%, forecasting no change form their 21% in the previous ballot.
The SDP was down on the 23% it gained in July (on 20%) relegating it to third place for the first time since democracy returned to Britain. Unity is forecast to remain in fourth place on 11%, down from its previous 12%.