Michael Savage: The spin doctors were only talking about one story. And it wasn't the deficit

Behind the scenes

(GETTY IMAGES)

There was only one topic of conversation in the media room ahead of the third leader's debate.

Following what had predictably become known as bigotgate, a morbid curiosity had descended on journalists as they wondered how on Earth the No 10 spinners were going to get their man out of this one. The tactic deployed by Lord Mandelson was, at least, creative: frame Gordon Brown as an unlikely John Wayne figure. "It was a very strong performance from the Prime Minister," concluded the peer, shortly before the debate had ended. "He got back on his horse after what happened yesterday and galloped through the debate."

It seemed an appropriate image in the Wild West of "spin alley", this time located in an exam hall within Birmingham University. As the debate itself reached its finale, Lord Mandelson pointed out the apparent beads of sweat on David Cameron's face and chin. "He's under pressure," he said, before unleashing his full verdict on Mr Brown's performance.

"He had strength, conviction and detail. This was an extraordinary, barnstorming performance by Gordon Brown," he said. "Considering the circumstances."

It was a brave effort to prop up his man after the horrors of Mr Brown's encounter with Gillian Duffy. The episode was so grim, even some rivals empathised. "Whose job was it to remove the microphone? It was just awful," said one Tory press officer, who could not help but imagine themselves at the centre of the fiasco. Others were less sympathetic. "We all asked each other if we should just go down the pub," said a member of the Liberal Democrat team. "We knew nothing else was going to get on TV."

Unlike the two previous debates, where Tory spinners had desperately attempted to dampen expectations about David Cameron's chances and Lib Dems talked up Nick Clegg, representatives from other parties realised they need not bother this time. "Not much pre-spinning to do, really," said a member of Mr Cameron's office, blissfully under-worked. "David has some interesting points to make about Brown."

Perhaps it should have been no surprise that the No 10 team were the last to brave the spin room ahead of the debate. Apart from Charlie Whelan, always the first to appear, none of the Downing Street team had shown up with less than an hour until kick-off. When they did surface, they were pretty candid about the Duffy affair. "There's not much you can say about it. We just have to try to move on," said one adviser. Despite the contrition, they tried to patch up their man's chances. "In a way it's shown the human side of him. He was genuinely upset by what happened. Today, he just has to be cool, solid and show the substance that has come through before."

With Mr Brown seemingly down and out, the early task of the Tory team as the debate began was to bring down Mr Clegg. They questioned his claims on immigration, VAT and housing. Pretty soon, the gloves were off.

"Clegg lobbied for less banking regulation on behalf of RBS," pointed out a Tory spinner. Michael Gove then laid into Clegg once the final round was over. "I do think he gaffed on immigration," he said, while the euro had become the "love that dare not speak its name" for Mr Clegg. All very different from the first debate, when the Lib Dems barely featured in the Tory post-mortem. Lord Ashdown, who was in bullish mood. "It was interesting that Brown attacked Cameron, but Cameron attacked Nick Clegg," he said. But then the polls came in. "We've won all three," said a Cameron aide.

There was a cheer for Cameron as he arrived back in the green room – the evening's final act of spin.