Chancellors debate: I was wrong

On reflection, what I wrote last night was wrong.

No, not in thinking that Vince Cable won the debate (see numerous comments in the mainstream media from left and right to back that up or the fact that he got more rounds of applause than the other two combined).

No, not in praising the chairing of the debate (that was done extremely well).

But in quoting the online poll run by Channel 4.

Online poll. Anyone can vote. Self-selecting participants. Not a balanced sample. And so on.

Yes, it’s nice to see that Vince Cable came out on top, but such polls really should be avoided where possible. Even if you like the result.

Hopefully the running of such a vooodo poll is one precedent this debate won’t set for the party leader debates.