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Colchester Question Time

THE QUALITATIVE ELECTION STUDY OF BRITAIN 2015

Colchester Question Time Leaders Broadcastconducted April 30th 2015

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset

Version 1.0 (some participants unidentified)

Date of release: 1 August 2016

Principal InvestigatorDr. Edzia Carvalho, University of Dundee

International Co-InvestigatorDr. Kristi Winters, GESIS, Cologne

Research AssistantMarcel Gehrke, GESIS, Cologne

Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Trust Small Grant SG142740

and supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York, GESIS-Leibniz Institute (Cologne) and University of Dundee

QESB Contacts

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

http://qesb.info

1Transcribed by: Just Write Secretarial Services, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Contact: [email protected]

‘QESB’qualesb2015 @qualesb

mailto:[email protected]


READ ME

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset Version 1.0

On copyright and attribution

Copyright of this transcript belongs to Dr. Edzia Carvalho and Dr. Kristi Winters. Individuals may re-use this document/publication free of charge in any format for research, private study or internal circulation within an organisation. You must re-use it accurately and not present it in a misleading context. You must acknowledge the author, the QES Britain project title, and the source document/publication.

Recommended citation: Carvalho, E. and K. Winters. 2015. 'The Qualitative Election Study of Britain 2015 Dataset', version 1.0. Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Small Grant SG142740 and supported by GESIS, Carnegie Corporation, and University of Dundee. Available at: http://wintersresearch.wordpress.com

On the transcription

All participants’ names have been changed and any direct or indirect identifiers removed to protect their anonymity

The transcripts in Version 1.0 do not have enhanced data recovery including non-verbal communication. It includes the basic transcription of words said by participants. The participants have been identified through attribution by the moderator or other participants and by an initial attribution by the investigators. Subsequent versions of the dataset will verify attribution of participants by video identification.

The transcripts in this version also do not include extensive instructions given to participants at the beginning of the groups, introductions by participants, and exchanges between participants and moderators during exercises.

Initial Transcription by: Just Write Secretarial Services, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Contact: [email protected]

Reporting conventions used

We have used ** to indicate words, phrases or sentences which we could not hear.

Italic font indicates we have taken a guess at a word/name etc.

Words in parentheses {} indicate physical gestures or what can be heard on the tape but cannot be clearly articulated into specific words.

Removal of direct and indirect identifiers are set off with + word +




Date of focus group: 30 April 2015

Location: University of Essex, Wivenhoe

Moderator 1: Dr. Kristi Winters

Moderator 2: Dr. Edzia Carvalho

Participants:

Matthew M SAH parent 42-48 Y Green 5 Colchester LD Colchester 1Harwich and North Essex Y, and party

Megan F N 34-41 Y Labour 4 Colchester LD Colchester 2 Colchester Y, and partySabrina F N 57-64 Y Lib Dem 6 Colchester LD Colchester 2 Colchester Y, and party

David MSelf-employed 57-64 Y Labour 5 Colchester LD Colchester 2 Y, and party

Carter M Retired 65-72 Y Tory 5 Colchester LD Colchester 3 Colchester Y, and partyAdam M Student 42-48 Y Lib Dem 4 Colchester LD Colchester 3 Colchester Y, not which partyPatricia F N 57-64 Y Tory 4 Colchester LD No Colchester Y, and partyIvy F Student 26-33 Y Green 6 Colchester LD No Colchester Y, and party


2015 Alias Sex

Special Category

Age group Supporter Party Strength

Pre Group

Post Group Constituency

2015 vote preference


Colchester Leaders

ContentsLeader Impressions..............................................................................................................................12

Adam...............................................................................................................................................12

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................12

Carter...............................................................................................................................................12

Carter...............................................................................................................................................12

Carter...............................................................................................................................................13

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................13

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................13

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................13

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................13

Adam...............................................................................................................................................13

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................13

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................13

Carter...............................................................................................................................................13

Carter...............................................................................................................................................13

Carter...............................................................................................................................................13

Megan.............................................................................................................................................14

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................14

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................14

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................14

David................................................................................................................................................14

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................14

Adam...............................................................................................................................................14

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................14

Carter...............................................................................................................................................14

David................................................................................................................................................14

Carter...............................................................................................................................................14

Carter...............................................................................................................................................14

Carter...............................................................................................................................................14

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................14

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................15



Colchester Leaders

Adam...............................................................................................................................................15

Mega................................................................................................................................................15

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................15

Carter...............................................................................................................................................15

Carter...............................................................................................................................................15

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................15

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................15

Carter...............................................................................................................................................15

Carter...............................................................................................................................................15

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................15

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................15

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................15

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................16

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................16

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................16

Carter...............................................................................................................................................16

Carter...............................................................................................................................................16

David................................................................................................................................................16

David................................................................................................................................................16

Megan.............................................................................................................................................16

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................16

Adam...............................................................................................................................................16

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................16

Carter...............................................................................................................................................16

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................16

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................16

Megan.............................................................................................................................................16

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................16

David................................................................................................................................................17

Adam...............................................................................................................................................17

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................17

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................17

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................17

David................................................................................................................................................17



Colchester Leaders

Adam...............................................................................................................................................17

Carter...............................................................................................................................................17

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................17

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................17

Megan.............................................................................................................................................17

Megan.............................................................................................................................................17

Carter...............................................................................................................................................17

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................18

Carter...............................................................................................................................................18

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................18

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................18

Carter...............................................................................................................................................18

Adam...............................................................................................................................................18

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................18

David................................................................................................................................................18

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................18

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................18

Carter...............................................................................................................................................18

Carter...............................................................................................................................................18

Adam...............................................................................................................................................18

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................19

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................19

Megan.............................................................................................................................................19

Carter...............................................................................................................................................19

David................................................................................................................................................19

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................19

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................19

Carter...............................................................................................................................................19

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................19

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................19

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................19

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................19

David................................................................................................................................................20

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................20



Colchester Leaders

Adam...............................................................................................................................................20

Adam...............................................................................................................................................20

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................20

Parties that you could see yourself voting for.....................................................................................20

Adam...............................................................................................................................................20

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................20

Megan.............................................................................................................................................21

Megan.............................................................................................................................................21

Megan.............................................................................................................................................21

Megan.............................................................................................................................................21

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................21

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................21

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................21

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................21

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................21

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................22

David................................................................................................................................................22

Carter...............................................................................................................................................22

Carter...............................................................................................................................................22

Carter...............................................................................................................................................22

Trapped in a Lift...................................................................................................................................22

Megan.............................................................................................................................................23

Megan.............................................................................................................................................23

Megan.............................................................................................................................................23

Megan.............................................................................................................................................23

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................23

Carter...............................................................................................................................................23

Carter...............................................................................................................................................23

Carter...............................................................................................................................................23

Carter...............................................................................................................................................23

David................................................................................................................................................23

David................................................................................................................................................24

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................24

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................24



Colchester Leaders

Adam...............................................................................................................................................24

Adam...............................................................................................................................................24

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................24

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................24

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................24

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................24

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................24

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................25

Impressions of Question Time Performances......................................................................................25

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................25

David................................................................................................................................................25

Carter...............................................................................................................................................25

Megan.............................................................................................................................................25

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................26

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................26

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................26

Adam...............................................................................................................................................26

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................26

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................26

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................27

Carter...............................................................................................................................................27

Carter...............................................................................................................................................27

Carter...............................................................................................................................................27

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................27

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................27

Adam...............................................................................................................................................27

Megan.............................................................................................................................................27

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................28

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................28

David................................................................................................................................................28

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................28

Megan.............................................................................................................................................28

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................28

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................28



Colchester Leaders

David................................................................................................................................................28

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................28

Megan.............................................................................................................................................28

Carter...............................................................................................................................................29

Carter...............................................................................................................................................29

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................29

Adam...............................................................................................................................................29

Carter...............................................................................................................................................29

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................29

Megan.............................................................................................................................................29

David................................................................................................................................................29

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................30

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Carter...............................................................................................................................................30

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................30

Adam...............................................................................................................................................30

Megan.............................................................................................................................................30

David................................................................................................................................................31

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................31

David................................................................................................................................................31

Carter...............................................................................................................................................31

Carter...............................................................................................................................................31

Carter...............................................................................................................................................31

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................31

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................31

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................31

Ivy....................................................................................................................................................31

David................................................................................................................................................31

Adam...............................................................................................................................................31

Megan.............................................................................................................................................31

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................32

David................................................................................................................................................32

Sabrina.............................................................................................................................................32



Colchester Leaders

Carter...............................................................................................................................................32

Megan.............................................................................................................................................32

Megan.............................................................................................................................................32

Carter...............................................................................................................................................32

David................................................................................................................................................32

Megan.............................................................................................................................................32

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................32

Megan.............................................................................................................................................32

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................32

Megan.............................................................................................................................................33

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................33

Megan.............................................................................................................................................33

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................33

Adam...............................................................................................................................................33

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................33

Adam...............................................................................................................................................33

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................33

Adam...............................................................................................................................................33

Adam...............................................................................................................................................33

David................................................................................................................................................34

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................34

David................................................................................................................................................34

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................34

David................................................................................................................................................34

David................................................................................................................................................34

Patricia.............................................................................................................................................34

Adam...............................................................................................................................................34

Matthew..........................................................................................................................................34

Adam...............................................................................................................................................34

Adam...............................................................................................................................................35



Colchester Leaders



Colchester Leaders

Leader ImpressionsI: We’re going to start with what’s called “First Impressions,” and the idea behind this is to give a sense of what kind of emotions or thoughts or reactions do you have when you’re thinking about when you’re seeing the leaders on this page. So by way of an example if I said Stephen Fry phrases that would come to mind would be quite interesting because of the QI or National Treasure or because of The Black Adder goes Forth. So these are the kinds of things, they might be random, it’s okay, whatever those associations are. And that's what we’re looking for here. So if I said, for instance, Jeremy Paxman, Adam, what kind of word leaps to mind?

Adam: Stern.

I: Ivy, how about you for Jeremy Paxman?

Ivy: Challenging.

I: That’s precisely the kind of stuff we’re looking for. So don't think about it too much, just kind of give your reactions. And then also, because we find it’s important, sometimes what I think is a positive, someone else will think of it as a neutral or someone else’s neutral as a negative, we’re going to ask you to put an up arrow for those things, words or phrases that give a positive association with that leader, asterisk if you’re ah, it doesn’t really change my mind about him or her one way or the other. And then negative, 01:23 is a representation of negative feelings. So this is going to take a couple of minutes, I’ll give you guys a little bit of time to work through. And there are seven. Now, for those of you who might not know it, I also am going to tell you very quickly, on the back of your sheet, ?? excessively watching the campaign like we have, sad things that we are, just a reminder that the first one is Nicola Sturgeon, the next one is Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, and the final one is Natalie Bennett and she’s the party leader for the Greens and 02:03. To get in the spirit of having lots of different views, we’re going to go through each of the leaders and do a positive and a neutral and a negative, because we find that generally even if you don’t like a leader sometimes you can still have positive associations. So I was never going to vote for Mitt Romney but I could still concede he seemed like he’s a guy who really cared about his family. So that would have been a positive association for the last presidential election. So what we’ll do is we’ll start with David Cameron and we’ll do positive and then neutral and then negatives, and we’ll move to Ed Miliband and do the same all the way down, and because in this exercise you might not have a neutral, I’m not going to ask everybody to participate. Instead I’ll just go, start with a leader and say positives and people can start throwing things out. I know you can’t see each other so it’s harder for you to concede the floor, that’s okay, I’ll manage that part of it. So if two people talk at the same time I’ll just say “what was that?” And remind me again David? I’ve been in Germany so that’s really easier for me now. David first and then Adam after and I’ll help direct that to keep things going.

So in terms of positives for David Cameron, did anyone have positives for David?

Carter: Yeah. Slick.

I: Slick as a positive?



Colchester Leaders

Carter: Yes.

I: And what was your thoughts on that, because he’s a politician, how he presents himself?

Carter: He’s quickly thinking, he’s reacting quite fast but he has actually listened before he responds.

I: And also if I’m a little unclear what you mean I might ask you to pull it out a little bit to make sure that we understand you correctly. Other positives for David? Matthew?

Matthew: He dresses quite well. That’s the best I could come up with.

Patricia: I think he’s reasonably decisive now. I think when you’re in power and you’re prime minister I think after a certain amount of time, whether you like them or not, they do have an air of polish about them. They might have the ability of getting out of trouble easier, they might be more practised. So I think he comes across as someone who’s been in the job, who’s got some knowledge of it and who’s therefore able to appear slightly on a surer footing than perhaps somebody else.

I: And that was decisive?

Patricia: Yes.

I: Other positives?

Ivy: I put ‘a good leader and strong economy.’

I: Thank you. Neutrals for Adam?

Adam: Posh.

I: How about you Sabrina, anything you can think of, either positive, negative or neutral, since you have less time than anyone?

Sabrina: A bit plastic.

I: Is that a neutral or a negative or a positive?

Sabrina: I think it’s negative but other people find it sort of, you know, like that sort of veneer.

I: Other neutrals?

Carter: Measured.

I: But as a neutral?

Carter: It’s hard to say measured because I know that contradicts his quick reactions but it’s the best I can do.

I: I appreciate that, thanks. How about negatives? Usually everybody piles on the negatives so for every politician that’s where you get the most responses.



Colchester Leaders

Carter: He’s got a shiny complexion; it might be natural or it might not.

I: Other negatives?

Megan: Untrustworthy.

Patricia: I find his voice irritating but then I find everybody’s voice irritating after they’ve been in power for a certain amount of time. Do you know what I mean? You’ve heard every intonation, you’ve herd every way they’ve said everything and it sort of slightly colours what they’re trying to say really so you don't always listen because you just think actually their voice is getting to me. Although I might well believe in what you’re saying it starts to wear a bit thin. I’ve only got to hear Tony Blair again and it sort of…

I: It all comes back.

Patricia: Or little Margaret, it all comes back and that sort of detracts from their content, I think.

I: Any other negatives?

Matthew: Out of touch.

David: A bit of a coward in terms of not being able to participate in debates that he was invited to.

Ivy: Bourgeoisie.

I: Thanks, that's great. Moving on to Ed, can we get positives for Ed? Adam, did you have one?

Adam: Clever.

Sabrina: Sincere.

Carter: Not charismatic.

I: That’s a positive?

David: But very bright.

Carter: I’m reading your introductory bit here very literally, but for positives it says those words which most impact your impression of him. So I included for him ‘slightly awkward.’

I: And that’s a positive?

Carter: Well, it impacts my impression of him.

I: Okay, slightly awkward. But where would you locate that? Is it a neutral or a negative?

Carter: He has a strong impact on me but it’s a neutral if it was a judgement of him, I suppose.

I: Some people like awkwardness, they actually like their politicians to be a little less… It would be weird but we have had ‘awkward’ as a positive. Any other positives for Ed?



Colchester Leaders

Matthew: I put ‘getting stronger.’

I: As the campaign goes on?

Matthew: Yes.

I: How about neutrals? Adam?

Adam: He always sounds nasal; he always sounds like he’s got a cold. One thing I would associate with him is that you keep thinking ‘oh has he got anything this week? No.’

Mega: Nice but not a leader.

Ivy: I just put ‘average.’

Carter: Good memory, mostly.

I: Thank you. How about negatives for Ed?

Carter: Suspicion.

Patricia: I think he tries too hard to sound really reasonable all the time and, you know, it doesn’t seem to come from within. I think he’s sort of playing a role, trying to be all things to all people and rather than … I think sometimes it’s easier to say about someone that stands up to their convictions, even if you don't like their convictions, they’re standing up for them and you can see that that’s what they really, you know, will nail themselves to the floor, and I don't feel that with… He’s got a very nasally congested voice and he’s slightly patronising and doesn’t really seem to totally believe in what he’s doing.

I: Ivy, you were nodding at ‘tries too hard,’ I think.

Ivy: Yeah, I put ‘desperate.’ I think that it doesn’t seem like he stands by his convictions and he’s just doing things to get the vote.

I: And Carter, I saw you nodding as well when Patricia was talking.

Carter: Yeah, because it made me think that he’s a bit like a comedian [??]

I: Other negatives on Ed before we move on? All right. So moving on to Nick Clegg, positives for Nick.

Carter: Clear speech.

Patricia: Nicer voice, an easier voice to listen to.

I: Ivy, did you have something?

Ivy: I put ‘nice guy.’

Sabrina: He always seems quite confident, even though he’s not really in power.



Colchester Leaders

I: Matthew, how about you?

Matthew: Relatively normal - for a politician.

I: For a politician, yeah. Any other positives?

Patricia: He tries hard always to sound very positive, I always think. He doesn’t seem to be a very nasty person or manipulative.

I: In that way, kind of dagger in the back.

Patricia: Yes. He could well do it but he didn’t sound as if he would do it!

I: How about neutrals?

Carter: He appears as if he engages his audience, he kind of connects.

I: But that doesn’t sort of sway you? It’s a thing you associate with him?

Carter: No, it’s just a style of communication.

David: He’s very bright.

I: But that’s a neutral?

David: Yes.

I: Other neutrals? Okay, how about negatives for Nick?

Megan: Irrelevant and weak.

Matthew: Lost.

Adam: I had lost as well.

Patricia: Unrealistic.

Carter: He can contradict himself.

Matthew: Just happy to be in power with any party.

Ivy: Embarrassing, that everything that happened, having to backtrack, that he just comes across as quite insincere.

I: Okay, thank you for the explanation. So next we’ve got the three ladies and the last gentleman. So starting with Nicola, and actually, Matthew, I think we’re getting more bird songs on this tape than people so is it possible, can you just pop the window closed behind you, because I can hear the birds sometimes better than I can hear you guys. So Nicola, positives for Nicola Sturgeon. Megan?

Megan: Forthright.



Colchester Leaders

Matthew: Passionate.

David: Strong.

I: Adam?

Adam: Formidable.

Ivy: Progressive.

Patricia: Very sure of herself.

I: Neutrals?

Patricia: I don’t think she has neutrals!

I: No, you love her or you hate her, sometimes both.

David: I put down neutrals as sort of an overall thought. I think she’s probably… she’d be a very good leader but not for England. She’d be very good for Scotland but I think she would undermine England as part of the UK. So, you know, it swings in roundabouts. I certainly wouldn’t vote for her.

I: Adam?

Adam: As a neutral, ‘convinced.’ She’s sure she knows what she’s doing and she’s sure she believes in it and that’s a neutral, because it can be positive or negative, depending on where you stand.

I: What side of Berwick-upon-Tweed you live or how you voted in the referendum. So I think we’re onto negatives.

Carter: Manipulative. Scheming and rude.

Sabrina: Scottish.

Patricia: Dogmatic, I think. I think she’s got a tune to sing to and she doesn’t look as if she’s going to be that much of a negotiator on certain things, and perhaps not being in power yet, perhaps, you know, black is black and white is white, perhaps she’s not going to see that occasionally there’s going to have to be greys. I just thought that might actually… everyone likes a powerful leader but possibly overdo it a bit in certain areas.

I: Thanks. Other negatives? So then we’re moving on to Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru. Any positives for Leanne?

Megan: I think she comes across as warm, caring, trustworthy and honest.

Megan: She’s an ex-probation officer.

I: I didn’t know that. Neutrals?

Carter: She’s a mystery to me.



Colchester Leaders

I: Patricia, you’re kind of nodding.

Patricia: I don't really know. If you’ve only got a certain amount of time to listen, and I’m sure she is very listenable, the only bit I’ve heard about her was very…. all sounded good but I’m not sure she’s got enough power yet to become a contender.

I: Other neutrals? And negatives.

Carter: I can’t make up my mind whether it’s positive or negative that I find her challenging, or feel she’s challenging or she was challenging my ability to understand her.

I: The next one is Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, even in Wales. Positives for Natalie?

Ivy: Good for the future, and promising.

Patricia: I’d second that.

Carter: Sorry, it’s not a positive.

I: Go ahead, Adam.

Adam: Nice.

Matthew: Normal. Unaffected by politics.

I: Neutrals?

David: I don’t like her face.

Sabrina: She’s disappointing. I’d really like to like her and feel she could do something but every time I hear her she’s… oh, I’m embarrassed for her.

I: You wish you liked her more or she did better?

Sabrina: Yes. I wish she was… yeah, something more.

I: And let’s move on to negatives then for Natalie.

Carter: She doesn’t have her own party’s population policy, which they’ve had since they were the Ecology Party, and she seems to actively deny that population is important, let alone the most important thing.

I: In terms of the environment and demands on the environment and the pressures for global…

Carter: And what will be left after we’ve gone.

MR: Uncertain.

I: Adam?



Colchester Leaders

Adam: Out of her depth. It feels like she sort of dropped and not quite expected the attention that she’s got, and I think freezes sometimes.

I: Yeah, didn’t realise she had a presentation in class.

Matthew: She’s not Caroline Lucas.

I: And you agree with that, Sabrina?

Patricia: Yes. She’s not ready.

Megan: I think she’s very difficult to listen to and I also think that she comes across as a bit… I don't know if this is negative, I would say unrealistic/idealistic. I don't know that's necessarily… I think that’s more neutral.

I: Thank you. And then the last one is Nigel Farage. So positives for Nigel.

Carter: Measured, blunt, to the point, clearly analyses things, and he’s thoughtful.

David: He’s articulate.

Patricia: I think he’s charismatic, I think he’s the best speaker, very easy to listen to and he’s very persuasive – though it stops!

I: Ivy, did you have something?

Ivy: Not positive.

I: Okay, sometimes I’m looking out for head nods and I misread. Other positives? Then neutrals for Nigel?

Carter: Concerned, I don't think I said that already, concerned, which I would hope all politicians were, but I feel he really is.

I: And then negatives.

Patricia: An un-tact bomb, I think.

I: He, as a person, going off or more the party?

Patricia: He’s really great to listen to but actually if you go back and start thinking about what he says and things, I think oh God, that is quite funny really and he leads you into this sort of “oh yeah, yeah, yeah!” And you’re going “oh no, no, no!” So that's why I think he’s dangerous, because he sounds so good but actually when you start to put into thoughts about how they sort of work…

I: Then that's when you start having concerns?

Patricia: That’s really negative, it is really negative.

I: Sabrina, did you have something on that?



Colchester Leaders

Sabrina: I find him a little bit scary.

David: Charismatically scary.

Matthew: I’ve got ‘smug, out of touch, comedy figure, dangerous, clueless and bumbling.’

Adam: I think you copied from me.

I: So Adam, is that the same things…?

Adam: Similar things, yes.

Ivy: I’ve got ‘dangerous, bigot, chauvinist, I don't want to see him and he makes my skin crawl.’

I: Anyone else for negatives? All right, thank you guys so much, that’s really, really helpful actually. We’re going to be, I think, coming out with some analyses based on people’s impressions from all over the UK in the next week, so if you go back to the blog where you signed up there’s probably going to be some analyses already before the election on how people are perceiving the leaders across the country. So thank you; you guys made this possible.

So the next thing that we’d like to talk about within the time, we’ve got about 15 minutes, I would like to have a conversation about more generally the parties that you could see yourself voting for. So how we do this exercise is usually… you can flip to the last page. So this is… a party that you could see yourself voting for in the local election, maybe 22:20 or at Westminster. And we want to get an idea of what are your possible candidates for parties and which are just off the table for you. So what we normally do is start with seven, because there’s seven parties on the list, and then we go six, five, four, three, two, one. We haven’t found anyone who would vote for all seven parties yet but we have had six. Does anyone have seven, all seven parties you could see yourself voting for? How about six? Five? (Adam is raising his hand) Adam, can I ask the parties that you could consider yourself voting for and just one or two words as to why, and then also the nos and one or two words as to why.

Parties that you could see yourself voting forAdam: I had Liberal Democrats because I’m normally a Liberal Democrat voter. Labour, I have in the past and might, depending on where I lived and if they come up with a candidate. The same with the Greens. And Plaid Cymru and the Scottish Nationalists if I lived in Wales or Scotland and I liked the candidate there then I would consider voting for them. But I would consider voting for the Tories or UKip. I just disagree with them. There’s occasionally, not UKip but occasionally Tories that I see who are vaguely all right but they’re parties I just completely disagree with on so many things.

I: Thank you. Anyone else for five? How about four? (Megan and Ivy are raising their hands). So how about Ivy?

Ivy: So I said yes to Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP, and then no to Conservative, the Welsh party and UKip. So Conservative and UKip, I don't agree with anything that they stand by. I don't know enough about the Welsh party, would consider voting for Labour or



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Liberal Democrats and if they changed their policies on immigration etc to be more understanding… yeah.

I: Thanks for that. Megan?

Megan: So I would say yes to Green, Labour, Plaid Cymru and the SNP, and no to the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and UKip.

I: And on the yes, why those?

Megan: Because they’re all more left wing.

I: So it’s like a left, right thing for you?

Megan: Yes. The Liberal Democrats are not a right wing but for me the last collation has meant that they would never, ever be a consideration.

I: They’re off the table now?

Megan: Completely.

I: So do we have three? (Sabrina is raising her hand) Sabrina, how about your three?

Sabrina: Green, Labour and Lib Dem.

I: And for what reasons?

Sabrina: I’d like to vote for the Green Party but I think it’s losing a vote, and I don't want the Tories to get in, I’m afraid. I’m thinking about just Colchester. Labour Party, I normally vote for in the local elections so I sort of switch. Never Tory or UKip. I wouldn’t vote for the Plaid Cymru or the Scottish Nationals because I don't believe in the break up of my country at all. I don't want them separate. They can have their parliaments but I don't want them to split up. I think it causes more problems between everyone.

I: Who else had three? Patricia?

Patricia: I probably would vote for the Conservative Party, the Green Party or Liberal Democrats.

I: Why?

Patricia: I like the work that the Conservative Party have done on our economic policies etc. We’re in a better state now and therefore from my point of view I’d like to let them go for another term to see if that can be improved. I think it would cause a lot of disruption in the country if we suddenly had a radical change. The Green Party, I like some of their policies and would go with them but they’re not strong enough so… And the same with Liberal Democrats, I think they’re starting to find out more about politics and understand that talking about power and being in power are two very different things. I think they’ve learned a lot. They’ve probably learned a lot about their weaknesses but at least they’ve found them.

I: And the ones on the no side?



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Patricia: The Labour Party, I don't feel the country benefited under their past governments, and I don't know enough about the others but I’m rather like Jane, I wouldn’t want any big splits in the UK. And anybody that gets a bit too vehement, that actually sort of slightly scares me because I don't know enough about it and the feelings that they represent. As I said, I think we’re better together than we are apart so I don't want that to be changed.

I: Thank you. Three? Two then. (Matthew, Carter and David are raising their hands) So we’ve got Matthew and Carter and David. So Matthew?

Matthew: I’d vote for Green or possibly Labour. Green, I like most of their policies although I don't suppose 28:30 form a government in any way. Labour is a possibility although recent history is not great. I’d never vote Conservative, I’d never vote UKip. The Liberal Democrats I have considered in the past, I wouldn’t again. And I don't know enough about the Welsh or the Scottish so…

I: David, you’re on two, right?

David: Similar sentiments to Matthew. I will vote Labour. I would like to vote Greens. I certainly wouldn’t vote Lib Dem because I did that the last time and that was a tactical vote that went badly wrong. So I think I would have to vote for Labour. But their policies aren’t exactly brilliant but the thing is they’re far better and I’d rather vote for them than the Conservative Party, Plaid Cymru, Scottish National Party or UKip.

I: Carter, you had two as well.

Carter: Firstly Conservative Party, and UKip. The Conservative Party probably has had my vote more often than anything else, and I would argue a bit like Patricia has about their experience

I: In the economy or just generally.

Carter: Well, kind of generally. I don't actually think the economy is the most important thing, which the Tories do think, because as you may have already gathered I think population is the most important thing, because we’re just overrunning the planet. We’re not leaving anything for the people in 500 years time. UKip because I think he genuinely has a clearer understanding of those same things as myself.

I: On the policies?

Carter: Yes. And the Green Party, if we move onto nos, the Green Party, because it’s just looking for votes now, and it’s not Green anymore. I just feel that's terribly sad. I don't think the Labour Party has actually performed well in governing when it has had the chance. The Liberal Democrats are slippery and tell you what you think and make you think you thought it. I feel if I was in Wales and could vote for Plaid Cymru or was in Scotland and could vote SNP, if my feelings about the United Kingdom were the same as they are now, well then I wouldn’t vote for them.

Trapped in a LiftI: Thank you. I think we’re down to one. So does anyone have one? Right, so let’s see how we’re doing. We’ve got basically 13 minutes. I have a question for you. We’re going to wrap this up. I’d like



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you to take your party leaders again and look at the pictures and I want you to think, you just realised you’re trapped in an elevator and you’ve called down to emergency and it will be about two hours before they can fix it, and you turn around and you’ve got one of the party leaders behind you. Who would you want to be stuck in an elevator with for two hours? For whatever reason you want, and then I’m going to ask you who you do not want to be stuck in an elevator with. So you can think about both the positives and the negatives.

Megan: Only one each?

I: Yes.

Megan: I’m ready. It would be Leanne Wood that I would choose to be there with for two hours and Nigel Farage… Not in a million years!

I: And why Leanne?

Megan: Because of all the things that I said before about her being warm and caring and just coming across as being a nice person who would listen.

I: You could have a nice chat, maybe?

Megan: Yes.

I: Ivy?

Ivy: I think I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with Nicola Sturgeon. I think she would be able to have a chat for that long and it would be really interesting, different views and similar views. And then Nigel Farage, I would not like to.

I: Carter?

Carter: The opposite to Ivy.

I: So you want to do Nigel, and is it because you feel like you’d have a good conversation with him and have a chat?

Carter: And I feel he would take an interest in me as well as me taking an interest in him.

I: And with Leanne, you don't feel like you guys would click?

Carter: Well, Nicola Sturgeon.

I: Nicola would be your negative?

Carter: She wouldn’t be in the least bit interested in me in any way and I don't know what she’d be saying. There would probably be complete silence for two hours.

David: I think I’d go with Nigel Farage.

I: It would be Farage that you would spend the two hours with?



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David: One of the reasons is because he also smokes. We could break a few rules there. And I wouldn’t want to be in the lift with Nicola Sturgeon.

I: Sabrina?

Sabrina: I haven’t decided who I would like to be with. I think I might kill Nigel.

I: And if push came to shove who would you want on the positive side?

Sabrina: Ed or Nick. I’m not sure, maybe Ed.

I: How about you, Adam?

Adam: I wouldn’t want to be with Farage for the same reason.

I: Because he smokes?

Adam: He’d be smoking and filling the thing with smoke, and I’m an ex-smoker so that gets even more annoying, or he wouldn’t be smoking and, from what I’ve seen, he does smoke a lot and two hours without a fag for someone like that is going to be quite stressful. Even generally, I wouldn’t want to spend two hours with him. And Ed Miliband because I think, probably not talking about politics but I think he’s got lots of other things you could talk about for two hours rather than just telling you about his latest policies. You’d need other things, I think, in those two hours to talk about.

I: How about you, Matthew?

Matthew: I think maybe with Miliband, just for him to maybe convince me.

I: Give me your best arguments, Ed.

Matthew: Yeah, that they won’t be the same party again. And I don't want to be in the same country as Farage, never mind a lift.

I: Patricia, I think you’re the last one.

Patricia: I’m struggling a bit. I’d like to try Natalie Bennett because I don't know anything about her and I’d like to see whether she was really… what she’s doing there and where she’s going an what she’s trying to get across and. So I think probably because I know least about her.

I: And get a better feel?

Patricia: Yes.

I: On the negative side?

Patricia: Farage. Yeah, I really probably would have liked to listen to him but I would just find him… no.

I: Maybe not for two hours?



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Patricia: I’d like to have an exit route.

I: Thanks. So we hope that was a little lighter. And what we’re going to do now is get the screen up, because we are right minutes away from 8 o’clock.

Impressions of Question Time PerformancesI2: We have about half an hour to get your impressions of Question Time, and the way we will do it is we will go through your impressions of each of the leaders again and see what you thought of their performances, then we will collate final marks on the performances and we will also talk about the format, because this one was quite different from the two debates that happened previously and of course the three debates in 2010. So we’ll try and see what you think about this particular format. And then if we have a little bit of time, and I hope we do, I will see what your predictions are for the 7th May and if you are less confused, more confused, more sure after watching Question Time and if that has had any effect. So let’s start with David Cameron. How do you think he did tonight? Anybody going to volunteer? Can I volunteer Matthew?

Matthew: I thought he made a strong performance but that doesn’t necessarily mean I believed a lot of what he said. I thought him and Nick Clegg, I’ve started keeping a tally with Clegg, they’ve both blamed the previous government so many times 37:25. Yeah, I just didn’t … strong but I didn’t believe him.

I2: Does anybody else want to comment on David Cameron?

David: He started to become believable. The thing is, I thought it was a very strong performance but you do wonder how much the economy has changed and whether or not them being out of power would actually reverse the success that’s existed so far, not that everything’s been successful but certainly I think the economy has benefited. But whether or not that would have happened under Labour, I really don't know, but 38:18 the fact he keeps on pulling out this document all the time.

Carter: I thought it strange that the document was referred to as “his prop” and that he was always pulling it out, because it’s the first time that I’ve seen it. I saw it five years ago but not since.

I2: Megan, you’re shaking your head as well.

Megan: I mean, I think there were a couple of points, particularly when talking about welfare, when he just seemed so completely out of touch. He missed the point about food banks completely. The use of food banks has gone up, I don't know how many tenfold in this country and he did not address why that is. He did not address the issue about insecurity, zero hours contracts, and the whole thing about people being so sure that the economy is somehow better, well for those of us who work in the public sector, I am now working at the equivalent of a 17% pay cut, so the economy does not look better for me and my workplace has been privatised and we’ve now been issued with redundancy notices. So I don't know where this impression that the economy is so great, is feeling better, it certainly isn’t feeling better for me or any of my family or any of my colleagues or anyone I know who is in the public sector, and that’s NHS, that’s social workers, that’s police, police officers, police staff. We’ve all had zero percent pay increase for four years now. So I believed nothing he



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said. I thought he was… well, I didn’t trust him and he sweated too much, quite frankly, for me to be able to trust him!

Sabrina: I think he got 39:49 right from the audience. He only answered a few questions, compared to the others. They were really throwing the questions at Miliband and Clegg. He didn’t answer very many.

I2: We’ll come to the role of the audience.

Sabrina: And he spoke for a long time every time he did, so they couldn’t get a question in.

Matthew: He didn’t answer the moral question about immigration at all.

I2: Adam?

Adam: He didn’t actually seem to answer… He was talking on 40:20 It felt like he’d memorised some responses and a few phrases and sound likes, which he was going to get in regardless, but he never seemed to be actually answering the question he’d been asked. It was just sort of vaguely in that field.

I2: Thank you. Ivy and Patricia, what were your impressions of David Cameron?

Ivy: I think that obviously he has a lot of facts and figures to back everything up and he knows what he’s talking about really, really well, that comes across, but in the face of when he was being asked questions about why the vulnerable people have been the most affected by the austerity cuts he would kind of just come back and say we haven’t and our future policies aren’t going to affect them, whereas it seemed just insincere and that he was just trying to avoid that when it clearly is in his policies to do that.

I2: Patricia?

Patricia: I thought it was a very strong performance but so it should have been really; as the prime minister you wouldn’t expect anything less, really. I thought he came up with a lot of facts. He did seem to have content. There was something you could decide whether you agreed or you didn’t. At least there was something there to consider. I wasn’t sure about all his priorities on his NHS, but that was perhaps a more personal thing, but I did think he did show conviction on keeping the NHS. I think with the immigration he was able to explain why conservatives did not meet targets. It might not be true but he did actually give a reasonable and he backed up why they hadn’t. So he wasn’t trying to say, you know, we got it right or anything like that but neither was he saying ‘oh we got it wrong but we’ll try better’. He actually tried to make an explanation about it. So you can only judge what you hear and see, can’t you, on this? And I thought he did show a general sort of conviction and passion about things. I don't think that he’s any the less sort of passionate about where he wants to go and I think he feels we’ve got so far, you know, it’s worth giving me another term. So I thought it was a strong performance and I thought he was coming from possibly a sort of position of knowing the whole, which of course none of the others can do yet.

I2: So by a show of hands, can I just ask how many of you gave David Cameron either an A or a B? So are there any As here or are they all Bs? (Sabrina, David, Carter and Patricia are raising their hands)



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Patricia: B+

I2: And what about a C? Anyone give David Cameron a C? A D? (Matthew, Adam, Megan and Ivy are raising their hands.) So four Ds in the room. Okay, so it’s four Bs and four Ds.

Carter: I think it’s very difficult in this environment to know whether you’re scoring the person’s performance, as in speech and responding and so on, or how much one agrees with him. I feel that it’s actually…

I2: It’s an overall score. I think that’s where the scoring becomes difficult because… yeah.

Carter: It is difficult. I mean, I’m finding it difficult. I feel as if perhaps more could be done in preparation, if I may say with respect, that would make it easier for us to give a score for a politician’s performance versus your own convictions of what they were saying.

I: That could be the topic, performance as a topic and then my reactions as a topic.

I2: Let’s move on to Ed Miliband. What are your impressions of Ed Miliband? Carter?

Carter: I felt he performed very much as I expected him to. He engaged with the question, a little bit over the top with saying ‘what’s your name?’ Just a little bit sort of over the top a little bit but I know why he’s doing it, because it’s friendly, people like it and he uses their name, which is an easy thing to do. So he scores well for doing that but he goes over the top, I feel. It seemed like a nice trip off the stage, wasn’t it? He nearly went. So I gave him a C/F for his trip off the stage. He was, no doubt, very convincing to a great many people. He had a good opportunity of this challenge.

I2: Any other impressions of Ed Miliband?

Matthew: He showed he had a bit of a sense of humour, which was quite nice.

I2: Is there anything specific that you are referring to?

Matthew: Well, he didn’t so much blame drugs but he… He just had a sense of humour, didn’t he? There was humour in it about there being drugs, you know. Not everything had to be serious. Maybe that's why he wore a blue tie.

I2: Adam.

Adam: There’s a bit at the start, the economy ones, there’s a couple of bits when some of audience, I noticed, felt a bit aggressive and I think he actually dealt with that quite well. He didn’t really react, he was quite calm, I think. A lot of people might not have reacted as calmly as that, which I think was good on his part.

Megan: I’d written down that he was not fazed by aggressive questioning, and I thought he was quite straightforward, particularly the economy, which I think that’s the area that people think he can be mostly attacked on. Often it was very straightforward there and I felt he came across as quite honest. The bit that I kind of struggled with was the bit with the coalition with the SNP, because he had such a conviction about that but I’m thinking that ‘well, I don't believe you.’



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I2: Patricia, I think you were nodding.

Patricia: I really tried desperately hard to think he came across well but I thought he came across really poorly. He didn’t answer any questions really about the deficit with any content. The gap between the rich and the poor, he didn’t give any policies on how this would be addressed, certainly not enough to make any judgements on. So I found all the time I couldn’t make a judgement because he wasn’t actually giving me anything to make a judgement on. I didn’t like the way he kept asking people’s names, and he himself said that not many people have read the Labour manifesto, and that was an exact quote. So, you know, I can’t see that that’s the talk of successful candidate, really, if you’re perceiving that most people haven’t read it. He didn’t say how he would handle a coalition and persisted in saying he wanted to apply everything in his manifesto, which is an unrealistic aim in a coalition. So I felt he lacked substance. I couldn’t find anything that I could really make a judgement on. But he’s a nice man.

I2: Any other reflections on Ed Miliband?

Ivy: I quite liked… his performance did change my perception of him, so I did think he was awkward but now I think he was actually trying really hard to be engaging. His tactic at the end to not really give any figures on immigration, not to over promise, as well as that being a manoeuvre, I think, just to kind of play the game differently, I found it quite refreshing.

David: I think the trick was attention so you remembered him. Not wanting to budge on a coalition, I mean, I don't believe… you know, there has to be at some stage but it’s just with whom? He’s a bit like a frightened hare caught in the headlights or something. I like him but he’s a bit awkward to watch.

Sabrina: I do like him but I found him not quite so understandable and easy to take in as the rest, as the other two. He did waffle a bit and kept saying you know, what’s his phrase…

Megan: “Let me answer it directly.”

Sabrina: Yes!

I2: “Let me tell you why.”

Sabrina: Let me tell you why. Why does he have to…

David: He wanted to explain all the time, didn’t he?

Sabrina: Why does he have to say that? Somebody tell him not to say that all the time.

Megan: He’s told to say it. That’s probably… they’re all so stage managed.

I2: O In terms of overall marks for Ed Miliband, any As? Oh an A! (Ivy raises her hand) Wow! Okay. Bs? So a couple of Bs, three. (Megan, Carter and Matthew are raising their hands) Cs? A couple of Cs. (Sabrina, Adam and David are raising their hands) Ds? (Patricia is raising her hand) That’s everyone. Finally, Nick Clegg. What were your impressions of Nick Clegg? Anybody going for “Cleggmania” this time around?



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Carter: Anyone going for?

I2: Cleggmania, like 2010.

Carter: No.

I2: No, okay.

Sabrina: Yeah, I liked him. I like his approach. He’s very clear, honest and comes across very… you understand what he’s saying. Ed Miliband got a bit lost, I found. But yes, I liked him.

I2: Adam?

Adam: I think I liked the bit when the person was asking him the question I think eight countries are going to leave the EU, and he just said “you’re wrong on that” and refused to get them to think… It was actually quite refreshing rather than sort of trying to go along with it. But I think he was trying to be honest. The one thing I noticed with him, he actually sounded quite tired with having to give the explanation for tuition fees again, having done it so many times.

Carter: Perhaps he was expecting it about student loans but I think it’s awfully unfair after five years, virtually, isn’t it, that people keep plugging him about that. But in a sense he was quite good because he was direct, he repeated, virtually, the apology. He was also good when he was challenged by Dimbleby, who I think has far too much to say anyway. When Dimbleby asked him what his preparations were for another job and he just said no, he hadn’t got any. I think he scored quite well with having dealt with those sort of issues. I think I’ll probably score him very well. And he had a gift question about Russia and the Middle East and so on and so he probably got the best applause throughout the evening from the audience, because that was a cinch [??] question.

I2: Any other impressions of Nick Clegg?

Patricia: I thought he did well. I thought he defended his position reasonably. He comes across in a reasonable manner, he’s reasonably fluent, he seems to be able to back up some of the questions with sound answers. The food bank seems to be a problem for them all but perhaps that 52:37 the wrong way, I don't know. And he pointed out, he was the only one, which might have been a trick, I don't know, that he was a servant of the public and he was in the position he was in and we were in the position because that’s what everybody had voted for. And I thought that was actually a strong point to make, and I don't think he’d had it up his sleeve, I think that actually came out fairly naturally. So I thought that was in his favour.

I2: Thank you. Any other impressions of Nick Clegg?

Megan: I think he came across well and that was despite my views about the Lib Dems and the coalition. I think he came across well, particularly around immigration and Trident, I think he gave very straightforward and clear answers there, and despite some quite aggressive questioning I think he dealt with that well [??]

David: He sounded sincere, he gave that impression.



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I2: Ivy and Matthew, I think you’re left. Your impressions of Nick Clegg?

Ivy: I actually feel differently. I think that he was in a position where if anything had gone wrong during the last five years he can blame it on David Cameron and then claim that he’s done other things to make the UK a better place, and I’m not really sure how much of that I actually believe in, and so almost a lot of what he was saying didn’t really come with much certainty that it was true.

I2: So you didn’t necessarily feel that… you felt he was getting almost like a free ride because he had a lot of room to manoeuvre?

Ivy: Yeah.

I2: Matthew?

Matthew: I’d kind of go along with that. I thought he just stayed down the middle, he didn’t want to alienate anybody, hedge his bets, see where he’s going to go on Friday. He just came across as not particularly strong, just all right.

I2: So quite interesting views about Nick Clegg in the room. In terms of your final marks, any As for Nick Clegg? Bs?(Adam, Sabrina, David and Carter are raising their hands) 3 Bs in the room. Cs? Two Cs. (Patricia and Megan are raising their hands) Ds? One D (Matthew is raising his hand). F? One F. (Ivy is raising her hand) Right, thank you. That’s all over the place, actually. In terms of the audience, some of you have already mentioned the audience giving a couple of the leaders a good grilling. What were your impressions of the audience? Do you think they did well? Do you think they focused on some leaders other than others?

Carter: By and large, I thought they were very articulate, they put the questions clearly, they didn’t seem to be reading it, like some people do with well prepared things and good follow-up things. One or two were a bit like Dimbleby, interrupting him, which is no help to the proceedings.

Matthew: It would be interesting to know how the BBC really pick them. They just don't just pick them off the street. There was obviously some interview process done.

I2: There was probably some kind of sampling done, yeah. Any other impressions of the audience?

Adam: I’m not sure if it’s the audience but one thing, Clegg was the only one that got a question on Trident and Russia. There wasn’t really anything with Cameron or Miliband on that and there hasn’t been on any of the other debates, really. Immigration keeps coming up again and again and they keep giving the same answers to the same questions, and that was the first time I ever actually heard anyone about Russia or the Middle East in any of the election 56:44

Megan: So should they have had the same questions going to each of them? I don't know.

I2: Yeah, we will talk about this in terms of the format, which is the next question, is this format one that you prefer compared to the previous one, but I just want to make sure that everyone has had a chance to talk about the audience, if you want to.

I: Can you give the audience a mark?



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I2: Okay. Any As for the audience? Bs? One B. (Carter is raising his hand), Cs? Okay, quite a few Cs. (Matthew, Sabrina, Adam and Patricia are raising their hands) Ds? Es? Fs?

David: How can you mark the audience?

I2: Because the audience also perform as a group. I mean, you can look at it that way, if you want to.

Patricia: Because the questions that they ask, sometimes they just go for wanting straplines, don't they, and lines that…

David: But you could say well, they’re in Leeds so, you know, should this have been in Colchester, for example, or Cambridge or…

I: It was just a spontaneous question that I came up with. I thought I’d get a feel for the room, whether or not people liked the audience.

I2: It seems like it’s a B or a C; more or less a C in the room.

Carter: Can we rate Dimbleby please?

I2: Yes, that’s next.

Carter: Give him an F.

I2: Why?

Carter: Because he just wanted to justify himself. He has too much to say, sometimes even interrupting. And I mean, that’s just pointless. He doesn’t have to compete with John Humphries on Radio 4 morning programme for interrupting.

Patricia: He was better than Paxman though, wasn’t he?

Ivy: I think Dimbleby 58:46

Patricia: I didn’t mind David, I just thought that Paxman never lets anyone speak, does he?

I2: Yeah, so he doesn’t have to interrupt anyone. So do you all agree with Carter in terms of giving David Dimbleby an F or do you think actually he did a better job than an F?

Some people: Better.

Ivy: B or something.

David: B

Adam: B

Megan: It’s his show, isn’t it? He’s not a facilitator, that's his show.



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Sabrina: He’s there for a reason, he can’t just say nothing, otherwise they might as well not have him there.

I2: Let’s try and unpack this a little bit in terms of the format, because when you have the seven leaders, the five leaders, he’s a moderator and, as you very rightly point out, here he’s not a moderator, he’s a host. So it’s a slightly different role. So in terms of the debates that we have seen in the past, the last two debates, and then of course the three leaders’ debates in the 2010 election, and this format, which is completely new, do you have any preference? What do you think of the format? Do you prefer this one or do you prefer the others?

David: I didn’t see the debates.

Sabrina: I think I prefer that to having the same question each. I think that’s a bit tedious and you get the “I agree with Nick” problem all the time, which get even more tedious.

Carter: It would be very tricky if you get the same questions; you’d have to have them excluded from seeing each other’s responses.

Megan: Yes, you would.

I2: In this kind of a debate?

Megan: Yes.

Carter: If you’re going to give them the same questions.

David: They’d have to go back to the dark room.

Megan: The thing is with all of the debates, the issue that I have of them generally is that you end up judging a party’s manifesto on the performance of the leader, and actually it’s not the personality contest, and I’ve only dipped in and out of the debates, I know who I’m going to vote for, a debate isn’t going to sway me, it’s not about how they look, it’s about policies and how they’re going to be implemented. It worries me that we rely so much and more so on this format for people getting to grips with their political decisions, because it comes from front pages of newspapers and things like this, and actually what people should be doing is reading the party manifestos.

Patricia: Yeah, but they don’t.

Megan: But it’s the comment that Miliband said about most people haven’t. Yeah, you’re right, most people haven’t, but you know what? We have to take responsibility for that as well, don't we?

Patricia: Well, we do, but I thought one of the best things I’ve heard this year, which is going slightly off piste, is that on the way home from here, on Radio 4 there’s been a programme talking about explaining, people writing in an don't saying I don't understand the deficit. And so they explain the deficit in a way that you can understand it and they use independent facts to back it up. Then they go across all the parties and say Labour would do this, Conservative would do this, Lib Dems would do that, etc. etc., and that’s been a most useful and… ploughing through manifestos, I’m afraid I would find difficult. Possibly on the minor points it’s easier but on the main points you’ve



Colchester Leaders

actually been given independent information and actually understood what you’re talking about, not just coming from one specific area, because they’re going to talk about it from each of the other points.

Megan: It does mean then that this kind of format is dangerous. For instance, if people say Farage comes across fantastically, okay, he may…

Patricia: He’s a showman

Megan: Yeah, he is a showman but actually his policies are dangerous. We’ve had other very famous politicians who were very charismatic and led us into extremely dangerous positions in history, and that is the concern with this type of format.

I2: What does this part of the room think, because you’ve been a bit silent? Do you agree with…?

Matthew: I’d go along with that.

Adam: Yes.

I2: With what Megan has said?

Matthew: Yes, absolutely. I think people’s views are influenced by the media and it’s the media making their decisions on what newspapers are owned by which people and which parties they push, even though obviously that varies, depending on what country, what part of the country you’re in at the moment.

I2: Adam?

Adam: I think 63:43 not just on the leaders. I think they need to actually, during the elections periods, maybe outside the news have a lot more special programmes on different areas and actually examining the party and getting the different spokesmen from the parties to explain their policy. I think there is a case for having something special about the leaders because, you know, they’re standing up to be primes minister and in our system that’s important, but I think there does need to be more examination in depth of other things and I think it’s probably up to the TV to actually sort of say ‘right, this is an election and we’re going to actually cut some stuff out of the schedule for a while to actually focus on it.’

Matthew: So an independent party to explain all their manifestos.

Adam: Yeah, or have experts interviewing them on it.

I2: So is it the general consensus in the room that there needs to be more focus on policy, whether it’s coming from the parties, from an independent source, from the media, but the focus has to be more on clarifying what the party polices are?

Adam: Yes. [several agree]

I2: Just going back to the debates, because I want to make sure that I’m getting you right, that the debates aren’t necessarily a good thing to do that, or it doesn’t matter as long as they do that?



Colchester Leaders

David: You’re focusing on an individual who’s obviously representing their party but the thing is it’s their character and charisma or whatever that you’re actually assessing; it’s not really the policy. You have to read a policy, or certainly you have to know about the policy and the only way to do that so that it’s understandable is through things like that radio programme you were listening to where you had independent, an individual sort of explaining what each and every party’s policies was.

Patricia: I didn’t know whether the BBC had done a programme on the basis that if we make it slightly showy more people are going to watch, which means we engage at some level with everybody, or hopefully as many as possible, rather than being too specific, which they put on programmes at different times for people that are keener, don't they? They have sort of Friday Night or whatever with different panels. And were they doing it to get their BBC ratings up? Did they look at this rather than… where were they coming from when they decided?

David: They should have slipped it into Poldark at 9 o’clock on a Sunday.

Patricia: No! That would be dreadful.

I2: So we are at the final question. I know we’ve kept you a long time and thank you for staying. So the final question is: for the 7th May, so you have obviously the election on 7th May, you get up on the 8th in the morning, what is your prediction for the 8th?

David: It’s so hard to tell.

I2: Yeah. Okay, I’ll give you a few options, because it’s late in the night and I’m sure you want to go home so I’ll give you the options. The first option we have the Conservative party with the most seats, not necessarily a majority but the Conservative party with the most seats leading some kind of thing. It could be a coalition, it could be a supply and confidence. Who thinks that that’s what you’re going to get on the 8th? So two people. (David and Ivy are raising their hands) Thank you. Do you think there’s a likelihood of a Conservative majority?

David: No.

I2: Okay. Labour Party, with the most seats, not a majority but with the most seats, again leading some kind of formation? [laughter] Okay, Megan and Sabrina. A Labour party majority?

Patricia: I think it’s going to be just messy, really messy.

I2: Okay, the final choice then. A general election within six months. (Sabrina is raising her hand) Everybody went “wow!” It’s a scary prospect. Matthew and Adam, what do you think?

Adam: Yeah, possibly.

Matthew: I haven’t got a clue what’s going on.

Adam: I think messy.

I2: Messy? Is messy the general answer?



Colchester Leaders

Adam: My feeling is I think the Conservatives may just get more seats but I think Ed Miliband will end up the prime minister because I think Labour have got more people they can work with.

I2: That’s it for us, thank you so much. We will be in touch for a post election focus group. We have a huge number of people obviously, because we had five focus groups in Colchester but we only want to do two in the post election but we’ll try and get as many as possible. So if you’re interested in coming back please respond to our email. The focus group will probably be on May 17 th, I think it’s a Sunday. Thank you very much.



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