Tom Richmond: Electorate wants to be treated with respect

The then PM promised that this would be the theme of Labour's third term, and then quickly overlooked the significance, and importance, of this concept when he became clear that there were no quick fixes.

In short, Blair quickly became bored – and moved on – while the

public's disrespect for this country's political elite became absolute when scandal after scandal was compounded by the full force of the expenses scandal.

And, in essence, it is this breakdown of trust – and respect – that is underpinning this election and causing such volatility in the opinion polls.

After all the deceit, why should people believe David Cameron when he says a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for Labour or Gordon Brown when he claims that Nick Clegg's growing support could bring about a Tory government?

They've misled the public before – many MPs have even lied to voters – and taxpayers, from my conversations, are not prepared to give either of the main parties the benefit of the doubt, especially when they recall how baying MPs gang up against Clegg every Wednesday lunchtime at Prime Minister's Questions.

It's the same with those newspapers who are trying to impose their will on voters with smear stories about Clegg. Such tactics may have worked in the past when Neil Kinnock – aka the "Welsh windbag" – was Labour's leader. They will not wash now when trust, and credibility, forms the narrative to this election.

Of course, there are aspects to the Lib Dem manifesto that are unappealing – the party's liberal approach to crime is one such example. On the other hand, existing policies are hardly cutting reoffending rates and encouraging a culture of respect – that word again.

Furthermore, there will be aspects to the Tory and Labour manifestoes that people will disagree with. Even those candidates fighting the election will not agree with every last word of their party's blueprint.

What Clegg, and his senior lieutenants, have done in this election, is treated the electorate with respect – and make a progressive case for change. Unlike the Tory and Labour top teams, they have not lectured. It was epitomised by Clegg's forward-looking call for a new politics at the end of Thursday's leaders' debate.

Cameron and Brown simply don't know what to do. The more they attack Clegg, the more likely that people will vote for the Lib Dems. And they will do so for three reasons – a desire for change, even if

that "change" is a step into the unknown; a demand for honesty and integrity in politics and a belief that voters should be treated with respect, and like adults.

HOW David Cameron must regret challenging the Prime Minister to stage a series of leaders' debates during the election – and Gordon Brown must be ruing his decision to accept the invitation. Neither man could have foreseen the extent to which they under-estimated the ability of Sheffield's Nick Clegg to tap into the public's festering

disenchantment about the expenses scandal and the erosion of public

trust in the political establishment.

They are paying a great political price for their complacent disregard of Clegg. In just two TV performances, the Lib Dem leader has shown that the adversarial nature of British politics – epitomised by Prime Minister's Questions – is an outdated, and ineffectual, way of holding Ministers to account. These debates have changed the political landscape forever.

Yet, while the debates have galvanised public interest in this campaign, these set-piece occasions must not beat the expense of other forms of electioneering. For there is a risk that the main political parties, when they come to choose future leaders, will select the candidate with the most charisma, and who is most likely to thrive in this political equivalent of X-Factor, rather than the more rounded politician with the best ideas and vision. It's a dilemma that every party is going to have to face when they define the reasons behind the Clegg phenomenon.

For, while Clegg's debate performances have been portrayed as the "game-changing" moment of this election, the real game-changer, in fact, happened on October 15, 2007, when the normally placid Liberal

Democrats ditched their then leader Sir Menzies Campbell.

Imagine how this election would have panned out if David Cameron had been up against Brown and the pensionable Campbell on television?

ONE of the strangest photographs of the election is the picture of

staff on their hands and knees, holding a door open, as Gordon and

Sarah Brown strode into a Leeds health centre.

Yet the Prime Minister's appraisal of the Yeadon health facility was – from personal experience – very much at odds with the reality for patients.

If Brown is to be believed, this is a GP practice where night-time appointments are the norm for people who work during the day and that this is the way forward.

If only. Late appointments are only available one night a week, they have to be, invariably, booked two days beforehand – and, contrary to promises made by Brown's predecessor Tony Blair, patients cannot book a check-up a week in advance.

NO wonder our molly-coddled footballers are always injured. After slumming it first class on a train from Merseyside to London Euston, Liverpool's footballers – Steven Gerrard included – caught a chartered coach for the 300 yards to the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. Were they more afraid of the walk – or meeting some ordinary people working for a living?