The BBC world news broadcast the first of the British election debates involving seven party leaders: David Cameron for the Conservatives;Ed Miliband for Labour;Nick Clegg for the Liberal democrats; Nigel Farage for UKIP; Nicola Sturgeon for the SNP the Scottish Nationalists; Natalie Bennett, leader of the Greens; Leanne Wood  the leader of Plaid Cymru leader of the Welsh nationalists. The debate was divided into four policy themes. These were the economy and the budget  with the usual obsession over deficits and balancing the books; the NHS the health service and privatization; Immigration and a referendum on staying in Europe or leaving it; the future of employment the role of education, tuition fees and opportunities for young people including housing policy. Farage as expected was both outrageous and blunt and provocative managing to get the Welsh leader to agree with him that staying in the EU meant that there was nothing that could be done about migration to Britain from within the European union. Miliband in trying to appeal to some anti immigration voters who were otherwise Labour supporters signed on to tightening immigration controls .He also directly attacked Cameron on his austerity policies. But on the whole the three women who lead the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens particularly on immigration, health care, debt management and employment policy were far more progressive than the other leaders including the Labour leader Ed Miliband. Indeed on debt management and austerity the Green leader showed herself to be extremely well briefed on Keynesian economic policy and the folly of austerity. It is hard to see if the debate will change many people’s minds or who won the debate but the smaller parties all led by women were the heroes of the evening.