General election 2017: ITV hosts first leaders' debate – as it happened

There’s a reason why PMQs attracts so much interest at Westminster, even though the quality of “debate” is often poor. It’s because, when the prime minister and the leader of the opposition are speaking, there’s a hinge that connects the arguments to decisions that get taken, things that happen, stuff that matters etc. The PM and opposition leader have to defend what they do, and so whether they can defend it or not convincingly actually counts.

But if the people who are engaged in a political debate don’t have that sort of authority, even if they speak with the wit and intellect of characters from an Aaron Sorkin drama, it is not going to have the same edge. And no one would confuse what happened tonight with a Sorkin script.

Which is a round-about way of saying it was all a bit dull, and it does not really matter. In fact, I’m not quite sure why I’m still here.

But, since I am, three concluding thoughts.

First, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn deserve no credit for not turning up and, in so far as people take a view (which is probably not much), it will be negative. When Leanne Wood said May was scared to show up, that sounded melodramatic, although the ITV viewers’ panel apparently liked it. (See 8.22pm.) When Tim Farron said at the end she was taking people for granted, he sounded as if he had a point.

Second, the women were generally better than the men. Nicola Sturgeon, Caroline Lucas and Wood all put in strong performances. Farron’s theatrics and argument-by-anecdote (presumably he was coached) got the thumbs down from the press (see 9.32pm), but he may have gone down well with less jaded observers.

And, third, Paul Nuttall floundered. Probably the only thing anyone will remember from tonight is that twice he called Leanne Wood “Natalie”. Ukip already poll worse with women than with men, and this may help to explain why. But it wasn’t just that; his attempts to reduce everything to immigration became borderline comic, and provoked some effective mockery from the others. (See 8.46pm and 9.08pm.) Ukip are having a terrible election and earlier today an Ipsos MORI poll showed them being overtaken by the Greens for the first time in some years. Tonight Nuttall did not do anything much to help.

That’s all from me.

Thanks for the comments.

18 May 201717.25 EDT

ITV debate - Severin Carrell's analysis

Severin Carrell

The ITV leaders debate has exposed the patchwork, oddly shaped nature of the UK’s political system. The only two party leaders with a realistic chance of becoming prime minister, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, have declined to appear – further highlighting the weakness of this format, in which the speakers spent much of the debate virtue-signalling, untested.

We had leaders of two nationalist parties whose candidates only stand in small parts of the UK, in Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National party, and Leanne Wood from the Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru. Yet neither are candidates in the election. Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats, Caroline Lucas of the English Greens and Paul Nuttall of Ukip are standing, yet none has a realistic chance of being in the next government. The Greens will likely end with one MP, in Lucas. Ukip are likely to end with none at all.

Only Nuttall, the one outsider among the five, was directly challenged over his policies. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, is the only one of the five who has served in government. Yet her 10 years in power in Edinburgh was not under direct scrutiny in this debate, facing an audience in Salford that can never vote for her. Likewise Wood.

Sturgeon made assertions on Scotland’s economy for which there is no evidence, implying that the SNP’s policy of lifting 100,000 small businesses out of paying business rates has helped the economy. The Scottish government has never tested the benefits of that policy for the Scottish economy, which is on the cusp of official recession.

Clearly aware of this, Sturgeon had the insight to qualify her own answers – confirming how odd this debate really was. Keenly aware that her government’s patchy record on education is a fierce topic of debate in Scotland, she said: “Nothing is more important to me than education, where there are some challenges we are working really hard to address.”

Unprovoked, she said the same about housing: “We’ve got challenges; we’ve not done everything right.” It is quite unclear what meaningful impact this programme will have on the final outcome of the election on 8 June.

This is what political journalists and commentators are saying about the debate on Twitter. Those who are expressing an opinion - many seem to have taken the John Rentoul line, and concluded it was a waste of time.

In so far as you can draw any conclusions these responses, Caroline Lucas probably “won”.

From the Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff

From Sunday Post’s Andrew Picken

From the Sun’s Steve Hawkes

From Open Democracy’s Anthony Barnett

From ITV’s Joke Pike

From the Telegraph’s Liam Halligan

From the former Sunday Post journalist James Millar

From Sky’s Darren McCaffrey

From the Mirror’s Ben Glaze

The Sun’s Steve Hawkes also thinks it was wrong for the Tory and Labour press offices to start commenting on the debate on Twitter when they were not willing to take part.

And ITV’s political editor Robert Peston agrees.

Here is more from ITV’s Chris Ship, who was watching the debate with what was in effect a mini focus group.

They are now on final statements.

Nuttall says the other party leaders do not believe in Brexit. They do not believe we are big enough or good enough to be a free country on the international stage. If you believe that immigration should be cut, and aid reduced, then please go out and vote Ukip. We can put the great back into Britain.

Lucas says she is asking people to vote Green because this is about you, and it is about standing up for our values of “openness, cooperation and compassion”. We face challenges to our climate, which we have not discussed enough tonight. We can build a more confident future. Vote Green on 8 June8, she says.

Farron says there is a vision of a better Britain worth fighting for. The fact that Theresa May is not here tonight tells you she is taking you for granted. You need someone who will step up for you. This is a country worth fighting for, she says.

Wood says Plaid’s values and principles are of value wherever you are. Neither Theresa May nor Labour will have Wales as a priority. That is why we need a strong team of Plaid MPs, to defend Wales and make Wales matter.

Sturgeon says a strong SNP voice at Westminster matters. The Tory government is increasingly in hoke to Ukip. To people outside Scotland she would say the SNP will always work for strong, progressive values. And to those in Scotland, she says the SNP will stand up for the country and make it the best it can be.

And that’s it.

A summary and verdict coming up soon.

Farron says he promised that he would not vote to put up tuition fees. He kept his promise he says. (He voted against the tuition fees increase, even though his party backed it.)

Nuttall says there are far too many students going to university. Last year 46% of students ended up in a non-graduate job. He says if they did that, they would be able to afford to get rid of tuition fees.

Nuttall says the English are paying for housing in Scotland. Sturgeon points out that the Scots pay taxes too

This is from the former Times journalist Andrew Clark.

Q: What would you do to benefit young people?

Sturgeon says they do a lot in Scotland, where they don’t have tuition fees. Having a strong economy is key, she says.

Wood says she wants to see welfare cuts that disadvantage young people should be reversed.

Farron says one in three young people leave Cumbria, where he lives, despite it being the most beautiful place on earth, because house prices are too high. We should build more, he says.

He says young people voted to stay in the EU. He will stand up for them, and would give them a final say on Brexit in a second referendum.