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14 British J. Pol. & Int'l Rel. 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/bhjlplcs14 and id is 1 raw text is: doi: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00465.x BJPIR: 2012 VOL 14, 1-18 A Face for Radio? How Viewers and Listeners Reacted Differently to the Third Leaders' Debate in 2010 Mark Shephard and Robert Johns Neil Kinnock expressed scepticism about Gordon Brown's likely showing in the 2010 election debates, suggesting that the Labour leader had a 'radio face'. We report an experiment in which students were split randomly between audio and video conditions for the third debate. As Kinnock predicted, Gordon Brown was more often proclaimed the winner by listeners. Nick Clegg, not David Cameron, benefited most from television. These differences were statistically signficant despite a small sample (n = 63). We test three explanations for Clegg's advantage: (i) that television boosts the salience of certain traits (notably attractiveness); (ii) that television boosts the importance of 'style' over 'substance'; (iii) that listeners form judgements based on performance throughout the debate, while viewers are disproportionately influenced by memorable incidents or remarks. There is evidence supporting all three explanations. Keywords: 2010 election; leader debates; television versus radio; experiment Introduction Now talking of attractive politicians, of course Gordon has got a radio face and nothing can get away from that. But I actually think that in so far as these things matter, that evidence of dedication, of hard work, of total commitment to the national interest, cragginess if you like is going to work to his advantage (Lord Kinnock speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, BBC 2010). The 2010 general election marked the first time in British electoral history that there had been a series of televised debates between the leaders of the main three parties. Prior to this, individual leaders had been interviewed, but never together. This is in stark contrast to the USA, for example, where such debates between the main presidential candidates have been a standard feature of politics for over 50 years, and have been shown to influence voters' assessments and decisions (e.g. Hellweg et al. 1992; Kraus 2000; Benoit and Hansen 2004). Even in less overtly personalised systems, such as Canada and Germany, there is ample evidence that leader debates can have an impact on voters (e.g. Schrott 1990; Lanoue 1991; Blais et al. 2003). The sharp increase in public support that the Liberal Democrats enjoyed following the first 2010 debate, of which their leader Nick Clegg was widely declared the winner, suggests that debates have at least the potential for considerable influence in Britain too. Even if the eventual election results implied a much more restrained estimate of this influence, the wider impact of debates on the election was .11• Political Studies © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Politics an.d Ihternationa Relations © 2011 .:ir Association Political Studies Association

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