Osbourne wins the debate...on points

three of a kind...?

This evening I watched the first of the election's televised debates which focused on the potential Chancellors from the three main parties and I was...quite impressed by all of the candidates(am I exhibiting Lib-Dem tendencies?!!!)

I've met Osbourne and unsurprisingly he is much better than his press so I wasn't surprised that their were no car crash moments from him; in fact he scored a few hits on Labour, attacking their failed regulatory system and saying Labour won't rule out their so called 'death tax' (which Darling, rattled, appeared to do).

Cable was good but maybe didn't perform to his reputation although his points that Labour's efficiency savings were bogus and that the Lib Dems are not beholden to either the unions or the super rich went down well with the audience.

Darling played to his strengths as a dependable, unflappable bank manager attacking the Tories in the 'more in sorrow than anger' style he has cultivated-that was quite effective.

So who won?- well actually because Osbourne had the luck of the last word and despite him occassionally tripping up over his words or repeating the odd one, I think he won it on points and at the very least, enhanced his reputation.

A lot of people at CCHQ will be pleased- and maybe even a little surprised.