CRI听力:UK Election Race Heated up by Seven Party Leaders TV Debate

Seven party leaders from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Scottish Nation Party, UK Independence Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party have gone head to head in the televised debate, which was broadcast live across the nation on Thursday evening.

Economic recovery, public spending and the National Health System are among the key issues brought up during the two-hour debate.

The debate is the first time Conservative leader David Cameron and Labor's Ed Milliband, the two main contenders for 10-Downing, have met each other face to face in the run up to the May 5th vote.

The outcome of the debate itself remains somewhat mixed among pundits.

Simon Hix, parliamentary expert with the London School of Economics, says he feels Ed Milliband probably benefitted the most from the TV appearance.

"I don't think the debate will have a big influence on the result but the one thing it could influence is people's perception of Ed Milliband. The public's perception right now is that he is not an effective leader and not very charismatic. If he comes across as a trustworthy leader who the public can actually imagine sitting in Number 10 as the Prime Minister then I think that could influence the election. So in a sense he has little to lose, David Cameron has much more to lose in the TV debate because the public feels they already know David Cameron but they don't really know Ed Milliband."

Political observer Tony Travers says the televised debate is likely to have little impact on the overall vote.

"The way people vote will have more to do with five years of embedded attitude or behavioral response to what's going on more than a debate about the budget or some terrible gaffe during the election campaign involving some leading member of a party."

In an instant poll following the debate shows around 30-percent of those asked say they are likely to vote for Labour as a result of the debate.

The Conservatives polled almost as equally as well, garnering 29-percent support among the roughly 1-thousand asked.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian in London