by Anton Johan
Now that the three election debates are behind us, and the general elections loom ahead, it is interesting to see how the leaders' performance affected their parties' odds.
Analysts agree that the results have been quite remarkable.
Prior to the debates, the Liberal Democrats had poll standings of 20%. Yet after Nick Clegg appeared before the staggering 20 million Britons who watched the series of debates on TV, those numbers rose to 30%.
Clegg seems to be a natural performer and he leant heavily on that natural approach when taking part in the debate.
In fact, he did not take up tuition to appear before the cameras the way his opponents Cameron and Brown did. The latter two took lessons from the same team who coached Barack Obama all the way to the White House last year.
"His naturalistic approach stood in contrast to the more mechanical efforts of his opponents, whose debate prep was too often visible on the air," said one analyst.
The performance of these leaders also led to further changes in odds.
Most polls saw Gordon Brown's party slump to third place following the Prime Minister's political gaffe and poor debate performance.
David Cameron, meanwhile, whose victory was all but secured before the debates, has seen his double figure lead drop in the polls.
Many are saying that the debates could actually lead to a hung parliament after Thursday's voting.
As one analyst summed it up: "The four and a half hours of detailed and sometimes passionate debate have not had a significant effect on the likely outcome of the contest, they have probably changed the whole shape of British politics."
