It’s always wise to be wary of instant reaction polls but tonight they’re all pointing to one conclusion: Nick Clegg won the first leaders’ debate.
Gordon Brown held his own tonight (there was no “car-crash moment”) so Labour will be disappointed that he’s a distant third in two of the three polls. But given how poor his personal ratings were to start with, that’s probably no surprise.
Here are the figures:
YouGov/Sun poll
Brown 19%
Cameron 29%
Clegg 51%
ComRes/ITV News poll: Who won the debate?
Brown 20%
Cameron 26%
Clegg 43%
Which party leader would you say you trust most to make any necessary cuts to public services?
Brown 28%
Cameron 36%
Clegg 36%
Which one of the three main parties do you think has the best policies on immigration?
Conservative 37%
Labour 20%
Lib Dem 35%
Final Sky News poll
Brown 32%
Cameron 31%
Clegg 37%
UPDATE: Clegg also leads in two more post-debate polls.
Angus Reid
Brown 19%
Cameron 21%
Clegg 46%
Populus/Times
Brown 17%
Cameron 22%
Clegg 61%
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