I have plotted to win TV election debates. Ahead of tonight’s clash, here’s what Starmer and Sunak need to know | Giles Kenningham

The Labour leader has everything to lose: Sunak everything to gain. A cliche purge, a show of empathy and a ‘dead cat’ for later will help

Giles Kenningham was director of communications for the Conservatives’ 2015 election campaign

In the wall of general election noise and multiple news cycles a day, TV debates provide the moment of maximum jeopardy. For many of the public, this first head-to-head may be the moment they start paying attention. For the leaders, it will be the culmination of hours locked in preparation, gaming out every scenario. Keir Starmer has everything to lose. Rishi Sunak has nothing to lose.

The debates have the potential to electrify the campaign. In US political history they have provided some defining moments. Ronald Reagan, the oldest sitting US president at the time, stole the show and shut down questions about his age during the 1984 presidential debate with his Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, delivering the line: “I want you to know I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” In 2010 Nick Clegg hit David Cameron and Gordon Brown with the zinger: “The more they attack each other the more they sound like one another.” And Cleggmania was born.

Giles Kenningham was director of communications for the Conservative party’s general election campaign in 2015. He is founder of the consultancy Trafalgar Strategy

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