<p><br /> Vince Cable, Lib Dem spokesman for the Treasury, emerged as the viewers' favourite in an online poll following the first ever "Chancellors" debate.<br /> </p><p><br /> It was a tightly contested affair with Mr Darling and Mr Osborne both scoring 32 percent in the poll.<br /> </p><p><br /> But it was Vince Cable who edged it on the night with 36 percent of those that voted thinking Cable performed the best.<br /> </p><p><br /> Mr Darling used his opening statement to attack Tory plans for immediate spending cuts, warning that "premature" reductions risked "tipping us back into recession".<br /> </p><p><br /> But his Conservative shadow insisted that people knew from their own experience that the "sooner you deal with a debt problem, the better".<br /> </p><p><br /> Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said there had to be a "new kind of economy" in Britain, which relied less heavily on "a few prima donnas" speculating on financial markets.<br /> </p><p><br /> The debate in front of a live audience was a precursor to three face-offs between the party leaders due to be held when the election campaign formally gets under way.<br /> </p>
