Colum Eastwood runaway winner of BBC NI leaders’ debate, snap poll finds

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Colum Eastwood was the runaway winner of BBC Northern Ireland’s leaders’ debate ahead of next week’s Westminster election, according to a snap LucidTalk poll.

The SDLP leader was judged to be the strongest performer by nationalists, with Alliance voters rating him above Naomi Long and unionists scoring him higher than the UUP’s Robbie Butler.

Some 32% of people said Mr Eastwood had won the debate with 22% opting for Mrs Long and 18% DUP leader, Gavin Robinson.

Sinn Fein’s outgoing South Down MP Chris Hazzard came fourth with 15% and Robbie Butler was last on 13%.

Some 841 people took part in the poll which ran for 20 minutes after the debate ended last night. The sample was scientifically weighted to reflect the Northern Ireland population. Participants were asked to lay aside their own political views and to score the debate objectively.

The heated BBC discussion was chaired by presenter Tara Mills in front of a live studio audience. While the DUP, Alliance and SDLP leaders took part, Michelle O’Neill opted out and the party was instead represented by Mr Hazzard who is its Westminster leader. He said Ms O’Neill was canvassing.

Doug Beattie also swerved the debate and the party was represented by Mr Butler, its deputy leader who is running in Lagan Valley in Thursday’s election.

The five politicians were quizzed on Stormont’s health budget, Northern Ireland’s constitutional future, the Middle East, and how the parties would win back public trust after years of devolution being down.

The SDLP leader was involved in key exchanges with Mr Hazzard on abstentionism and Gaza as he insisted his party had been right to boycott the White House on St Patrick’s Day in protest at President Biden’s support for Israel.

Some 44% of nationalists said Mr Eastwood won the debate with 35% opting for Mr Hazzard, 17% Mrs Long, 3% Mr Butler, and 1% Mr Robinson.

The DUP leader was judged to be the winner by 33% of unionists as 28% opted for Mr Eastwood, 25% Mr Butler, 13% Mrs Long and 1% Mr Hazzard.

Alliance voters also handed victory to Mr Eastwood with 46% rating him the best and 41% choosing Mrs Long. Six per cent called it for Mr Butler, 5% Mr Hazzard , and 2% Mr Robinson.

The SDLP leader’s performance was described as good or excellent by 61% of those taking part in the poll, with just 20% deeming it poor or awful.

Naomi Long was the only other leader with an overall ‘plus’ score: 47% of people thought she’d performed well with 29% saying she hadn’t.

A third of people viewed the performances of Gavin Robinson and Chris Hazzard positively, but four in 10 saw them negatively.
Robbie Butler again came in fifth: 27% of thought his performance was good or excellent but 42% deemed it poor or awful.

However, three-quarters of voters said the debate wouldn’t change their mind on how they voted while 14% said it might do so and 9% said it had either helped them make up their mind or change how they voted or seriously consider doing so.