Rishi Sunak ‘failed to deliver knockout blow’ he needed in last TV debate with Keir Starmer

Exclusive: BBC debate was watched by millions - but still beaten by the football in the ratings

Rishi Sunak failed to deliver the ‘knockout blow’ required in the final televised showdown with Keir Starmer, a leading polling expert has warned.

The two men traded bruises during a BBC debate watched by millions.

During an at times tetchy 90 minutes, the prime minister aggressively challenged Sir Keir on his plans for government, including at one point asking if he planned to do a deal on small boats “with the Iranian ayatollahs?”

But his energetic performance was not enough, Scarlett Maguire, director at polling company JL Partners said.

Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak argue during the final TV debate (Phil Noble/PA) (PA Wire)

“At this point I think the only thing that would have turned the tide for Rishi would have been a knock out blow to Keir Starmer, something that put the Labour leader under enough pressure to completely fall apart,” she said. “We didn’t get that.”

In fact voters in a snap JL Partners focus group branded the Tory leader “smarmy” and “out of touch”, while Sir Keir was “dull” and “weak”.

Another snap opinion poll, by YouGov, put the result of the debate as a dead heat between the two men.

Another poll, this time by the More in Common group, found the Labour leader had won by 56 – 44 per cent.

Despite millions watching at home, the event was also trounced in the ratings by the football.

At its height 3million people watched the BBC special. Over on ITV, however, Georgia vs Portugal in the Euros scored a peak audience of 6.4m.

The debate was beaten by the football in the ratings (AFP via Getty Images)

Sir Keir seemed hesitant at times during the debate but did manage to land some blows on his opponent, including dubbing him “Liz Truss mark II”.

As he came under pressure over details of his planned returns agreements with other countries, Mr Sunak pointed out that those coming to the UK on small boat migrants were from Iran, Syria and Afghanistan. “Are you going to sit down with the Iranian ayatollahs?” he asked.He also constantly repeated that a vote for Labour would be “to surrender” to high taxes, high immigration or a tax on pensions.

But he came under pressure for the gambling scandal which has embroiled his party, repeating that he was “frustrated” and “furious” about the affair.

An audience member at the debate at Nottingham Trent University received the loudest applause of the night when he asked: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”