Finally the parties have done more than agree merely in principle to hold leader’s debates, but a real deal has been reached. This is an idea that first emerged back in July and was picked up by Sky in September with a campaign and petition – before stalling in political manoevurings between the parties a month later.

We will at last get our chance to see a proper debate between the three people vying to be Prime Minister (or king-maker in the case of Clegg). At a time when opinion of politicians is so low, the sight of the three leaders engaged in a proper debate should be good for democracy.

A televised debate is the only way to allow us to see what the parties want to do. It really should be convention that these debates take place, and hopefully this will start a convention and our democratic process will become more transparent as the public can see more of the individual leaders and what they think and would do rather than purely the PR productions that otherwise dominate the general election campaigns.

The final form of these leaders debates is as follows:

• Three 90-minute debates taking place at prime-time during an election camapign
• One hosted each by Sky, ITV, and the BBC
• Half of each debate will be themed (presumably meaning health, education, and the economy)

It does make sense to organise it like they have, and I’m looking forward to them already!