ABSTRACT
The U.K. did not have television election debates until years after most other countries; it finally arrived with a bang in 2010, dominating that campaign and having a substantial impact on the engagement of viewers—especially young and “marginally attentive” ones—in the issues of the election. Notwithstanding the impact of social media and substantial changes in the country’s political landscape, television events remain the central focus of election communications. Yet despite being hailed a success, it did not take long for Britain to revert to the fifty-year standoff between politics and broadcasting over debates, with claims that they “squeezed the oxygen” from campaigns. Willingness by politicians to take part is still governed by electoral pragmatism and their own political interests. Three elections later, only the debate about whether they are going to take place each time has become established: television debates themselves are still not dug in as part of the familiar furniture of U.K. elections.
