Labour comes out on top in Rate The Debate dial

Prime Minister John Key and Labour Leader David Cunliffe during tonight's leader's debate with John Campbell. Photo / TV3

Labour leader David Cunliffe was the clear winner of the third leaders debate this evening, according to the Herald's Rate the Debate dial.

The dial, which was active throughout tonight's debate, allowed users to show if they agreed or disagreed with something being said by Mr Cunliffe and Prime Minister John Key during the debate.

The dial had close to 7400 participants during the hour-long debate, with more than 1.75 million clicks on the dial.

Overall there were slightly more positive - 885,000 - than negative - 866,000 - reactions, with solid support for Mr Cunliffe.

Mr Key was more engaged in this debate compared to the TVNZ leaders debate, but Mr Cunliffe was again more front footed and this was reflected in the dial throughout the event.

There was strong agreement on the dial when Mr Cunliffe talked about unemployment and low income in the regions, but strong disagreement to Mr Key's rebuttal about how an increase in minimum wage would affect small businesses in Foxton.

Mr Key's proposed tax cuts were not greeted favourably on the dial, which responded more positively to Mr Cunliffe's dismissal of them as "underwhelming".

The dial again responded positively to Mr Cunliffe's discussion of foreign speculators in real estate. His speech about making child poverty a priority if elected Prime Minister was also greeted warmly.

- additional reporting Eli Orzessek