Dial D for David: How you reacted to the leaders' debate

NZ Herald Rate the Debate dial

More than 14,000 Herald Online readers have had their say on tonight's leaders debate - clicking on our "buzzdial" more than 2.6 million times as they agreed or disagreed on what was being said.

The "buzzdial" gauged online viewer reaction to talking points during the TV One debate. Participants clicked either "agree" or "disagree" on the dial, which featured at the top of the Herald's live blog for the one hour debate.

Data showed there were more than 14,000 participants between 7pm and 8pm, with more than 2.6 million clicks on the dial during the live debate time.

Overall, people agreed with Labour leader David Cunliffe more than Prime Minister John Key - however reaction varied depending on talking points.

In the opening stages of the debate, the clicks on the dial corresponded to a large amount of agreement on Mr Cunliffe talking about his counterpart's performance and Dirty Politics, however when Mr Key addressed Dirty Politics and his embattled Justice Minister Judith Collins, most of the clicks were in disagreement with the Prime Minister.

Mr Cunliffe's points on minimum wage, poverty and the widening gap between the rich and poor also earned agreement from dial participants.

Participants also seemed to agree with the party leaders when they spoke about one another, as well as when Mr Key spoke about less people moving to Australia.

However, the dial indicated large discontent when he talked about tax cuts, with lots of clicks in disagreement.

Data showed there were an average of 188 clicks per participant, with more positive "agree" clicks than negative "disagree" ones during the debate.

- additional reporting Eli Orzessek