Will TV debates sway your General Election vote? 84% of Gazette readers say they've already made up their minds

Voters in South Tyneside say televised debates ahead of next month’s General Election won’t change their vote and say their minds are already made up.
Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson will go head to headJeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson will go head to head
Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson will go head to head

We asked readers to have their say on whether they could be swayed by televised election debates ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance on Tuesday, November 19.

And the results show that a large majority believe they won’t be swayed by anything either of the two main party leaders have to say in a TV debate.

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At the time of writing, 84% of of 640 readers say their vote won’t be swayed while 16% say that TV debates could have an impact on their decision.

Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson faced each other in the first televised live debate of the election campaign on Tuesday.

ITV hosted the first head-to-head between the Labour and Conservative leaders, with news presenter Julie Etchingham chairing the event. It aired at 8pm UK time.

Controversially, the programme featured the leaders of only the two largest parties, after a High Court challenge mounted by the Liberal Democrats and SNP arguing for their inclusion failed.

Here’s what readers had to say:

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Lynette Jones: “Why are the other parties not in this debate? Why just them two?”

Donna Watson: “I know who I'm voting for, makes no difference to me.”

Josh Heslop: “Not really, it’s not long form or in depth and mainly tells us who is better at speaking off the cuff – and I would hope our laws aren’t decided off the cuff.”