IN this column yesterday, following his nightmare in Rochdale, we said that Gordon Brown needed the performance of his life in the third and final TV debate.

And there was a desperate attempt by senior Labour figures to pretend that he had delivered what was needed.

Peter Mandelson said the Prime Minister had bounced back with a “barnstorming” performance to win the debate.

Alastair Campbell went on Twitter to suggest that the “phoney polls”

should be ignored and that Mr Brown had won the debate “hands down”.

You know when the expert spin doctors start spinning so frantically – dismissing the polls before they are even registered – that their man has been beaten.

The truth is that Mr Brown looked like a punch drunk boxer after the hammering he took over his “bigoted woman” gaffe. Nick Clegg was not the impressive surprise package of the earlier TV debates, while David Cameron gave his most confident performance of the series.

Televised leaders’ debates are now established as part of our election process. They have added a new dimension, increased public interest, and are here to stay.

The disappointment was that the third and final leaders’ debate was too often reduced to a return to drab, oldstyle, Punch and Judy politics.

That is not what the electorate wants to see. Voters want thoughtful answers to serious questions.

Above all else, they want to see all parties being straight about the economic challenges that lie ahead – and a willingness to work together to overcome them.