BORIS Johnson edged Jeremy Corbyn 51-49 in a snap election debate poll.
The narrow win comes as the PM is so far ahead in the polls – consolidating him as a firm favourite for the General Election.
Chris Curtis, YouGovs Political Research Manager, said: “Our snap poll shows that the public is divided on who won the debate, with most Labour voters thinking Jeremy Corbyn won, most Conservative voters thinking Boris Johnson won, and very few people changing their minds.
“But given the Conservatives went into this debate in the lead, they will hope the lack of a knockout blow means they can maintain this until voting day.”
More than 1,000 people who watched the debate were quizzed on the question “who performed best”.
It comes after Corbyn refused ten times to say whether he would back his own Brexit deal in a bruising TV clash tonight.
The PM repeatedly pressed the leftie Labour boss to answer in their first live debate ahead of the December 12 poll.
Mr Corbyn dodged questions several times on how he would campaign in a second referendum.
He claims he wants to renegotiate a new deal with Brussels in just three months and put it back to the people for another vote.
But nine times in less than half an hour he refused to say which side he would take afterwards.
The leftie boss said: “We will negotiate an agreement and we will put that alongside remain in a referendum.
“I will carry out that referendum, it will be a genuine choice. And we will carry it out.”
TV CLASH
Hosted by news presenterJulie Etchingham, tonight’s head-to-head marks the first time since 2015 that both the Labour and Conservative party leaders have taken part in a TV debate.
It’s telling on how well leaders perform in these kinds of debates – which can make or break their popularity with voters.
At the last election in 2017, then-Prime MinisterTheresa May opted out of the live TV discussion.
ITV also plans to hold a multi-party debate before the election on December 12.
In 2010, the televised debates helped send then-Lib Dem leader Nick Cleggs popularity soaring as he charmed viewers.
Gordon Brown and David Cameron spent the election campaign saying I agree with Nick as they tried to get in on his popularity.
Theresa Mays ill-fated 2017 election campaign was dealt a blow after she refused to take part in the leadership debates.
She sent Amber Rudd to stand in for her. But the move bombed with voters and fuelled criticisms that she was out of touch.
