article_snippet: Britain's politicians broke new ground.
article_snippet: Britain's politicians were long used to haranguing each other in the UK's rowdy House of Commons -- but Britain's politicians'd never had American style pre-election head-to-head debates.
article_snippet: It is necessary and long-established political fare in the U.S. -- but over here in the UK, it was novel.
article_snippet: It seemed to go well -- political points were scored, and polls were commissioned looking for advantages gained or lost.
article_snippet: Britain's broadcasters, keen to channel lively politics onto prime time TV and boost ratings, have been working the corridors of power Britain's broadcasters, keen to channel lively politics onto prime time TV and boost ratings over the past year to try to nail down a repeat -- or two -- of the 2010 knockabout.
article_snippet: What's at stake isn't just the proposed debates ahead of May's general election -- but the enshrining of such debates permanently into Britain's political architecture -- just like in the U.S.
article_snippet: It once looked like It would become as much of a British institution as rain, or fish and chips, but now the election debate seems in danger of not happening at all.
article_snippet: On the upside, you can still tune in to House of Commons TV most days of the week to get your fix of one lawmaker bellowing at another.
highlights_snippet: Election TV debates only arrived in the UK in 2010 .
  
highlights_snippet: Broadcasters are keen to repeat the head-to-head format in the run-up to the 2015 poll .
  