Leaders Debate - my verdict

I quite enjoyed this year's Leaders Debate on ITV. It was far more interesting than 2010's borefest (featuring a grimacing Gordon Brown - ugh!), and it was great to see a better gender balance up on stage.

Here are my thoughts on how each candidate did:

Green: Natalie Bennett came across as the most nervous, but made some good points. The only one to talk about the biggest crisis facing our species - climate change.
Liberal: Nick Clegg did his best to own up to his failures, and good on him for that. Nothing else he said, however, was particularly memorable.
UKIP: Nigel Farage is a fool. Unfortunately the rubbish he spouts will appeal to lots of uninformed people which is very worrying.
Labour: I think Ed Miliband stood up well to his main rival, Cameron, but I couldn't stop thinking about how Labour made a mess of things last time round.
Plaid Cymru: Leanne Wood was quite stilted in her delivery, but stood the corner well for Wales. She seemed a bit in awe of Sturgeon.
SNP: Of all the candidates, Nicola Sturgeon is the one I'd most like to vote for except I can't because I don't live in Scotland (glad Salmond's gone - didn't like him). Confident and gutsy.
CONservative: Smooth as a cucumber, PM David Cameron fought with arrogance and condescension. He seemed to be talking about a completely different country where everything is doing great thanks to him. What a gimboid.

Quite frankly, as long as the Tories don't stay in power I don't care who wins the election in May, although Labour winning will make me a bit anxious (and UKIP winning would be a total disaster). A coalition of some kind would hopefully balance things out a bit.

Whenever I get talking or thinking about politics I always find myself getting angry and frustrated. The rich and powerful are lording it over the rest of us and having a laugh at our expense - we need our leaders to redress the balance and do it quickly before total anarchy sets in. Not an easy task. The problems we face as a nation and as a race are unbelievably complex and terrifying - bickering amongst each other and trying to score points in a personality contest are not the way to sort things out. Unfortunately that is what politics is about most of the time.

All I can do is cast my vote and pray that whoever is resident of Number 10 after May 7th will lead with honesty, fairness and justice.