aware of the dangers debates can th

aware of the dangers debates can throw up, have until recently taken the
view that one of the privileges of incumbency is to refuse to participate in
such an uncontrolled spectacle. The assumption here is that there is more to
be gained by playing the role of a dignified statesperson, operating above the
glitzy presidentialism of the debate format, than could be lost by being seen
as aloof and inaccessible. The first break with this approach came in June
1994, following the death of Labour leader John Smith, when the three
candidates for the succession – Tony Blair, Margaret Beckett and John
Prescott – debated live on BBC’s Panoramaprogramme, the first time such
a debate had ever been broadcast on British television. The Liberal
Democrats undertook the same exercise for their leadership campaign in
2006, as did Labour leadership contenders in 2010.
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