So, what's the impact of the leaders' debates on the political landscape of Brighton Kemptown (BK)? Well, as a marginal constituency, seemingly quite a lot. For those BK constituents that are politically active and aware of local political nuances (yes that's you! After all, you're reading the virtual Magnum Opus on Brighton Kemptown politics) it is probably just entertainment but won't effect your voting choice.
To those vast majority of BK constituents, particularly those in the eastern hinterlands who watched the latest debate, slippered feet up, gin & tonic in hand whilst munching through a box of dates, it may well have a big impact. They voted Labour in '97 for a change, '01 because things were fine and maybe switched to Tory in '05 or were thinking about switching to Tory in this election...after all, what is the alternative?
Well, Nick Clegg held his own last night...OK, maybe not as dramatic as last week's debate, but he's up there on a level platform with the Gordy & Dave double act and has proven himslef to be a viable alternative.
As I have previously covered on this blog in fantastically academically rigourous detail (hmmm?), a swing to the LibDems in BK strips more potential Conservative votes than it does Labour.
So, on that premise, the higher the LibDems' stock soars, the more Conservative support deflates...and the more chance there is of Labour retaining the seat. It may not be a big enough groundswell to prevent a Tory victory in BK, but currently on Paddy Power (no unsavoury vested interest I hasten to add), you can get odds of 4/1 on a Labour victory in BK. Even if it's not worthy of your vote, it might be worth a punt.
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