An overnight Savanta poll has revealed that Sir Keir Starmer bested Rishi Sunak on every single issue discussed on last night’s live TV debate.
The leaders of the two main parties clashed in their first debate on the General Election campaign, arguing over issues including tax, the NHS, immigration and the cost of living in a debate that at times seemed bad-tempered, as the two men were repeatedly told to stop talking over each other.
In his opening pitch to voters on ITV, the Prime Minister sought to draw dividing lines with Labour as he claimed the party would “raid” pension pots and hike taxes.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir questioned the timing of the July 4 vote, arguing Mr Sunak had called a summer polling day because he “knows” inflation and energy prices will take a turn for the worse in winter.
The Labour leader mockingly dubbed the Prime Minister “the British expert on tax rises” after Mr Sunak’s repeated insistence that Sir Keir would raise the burden.
A snap poll carried out by YouGov appeared to suggest Sunak had come out on top following the debate – if only by a marginal amount.
But new research carried out by Sevanta overnight suggests the Labour beat his opponent on every issue discussed, painting a very different picture.
Savanta said that on the issues, its survey respondents gave Sir Keir wins on immigration (45 per cent to 37 per cent for Mr Sunak) and on defence and security (43 per cent to 41 per cent).
The Labour leader was well ahead on the NHS and public services (63 per cent versus 25 per cent), plus the economy and cost of living (52 per cent to 36 per cent).
“According to our overnight panel, Starmer wins on the detail, but Sunak is much closer in the most important ‘who won the debate’ metric,” Savanta’s Political Research Director Chris Hopkins said.
“Presentationally, it felt like the Prime Minister had the upper hand at times – in particular towards the end of the debate – and although our figures suggest he lost narrowly, he probably still outperformed expectations,” he said.
Sir Keir also beat the PM on every personality-based question posed by Savanta, including: who came across as most honest (54 per cent to 29 per cent), who gave the most thoughtful answers (53 per cent to 35 per cent) and who remained the calmest (51 per cent to 36 per cent).
Related: Audience laughs at Rishi Sunak over NHS figures on ITV leaders debate
