London , England ( CNN ) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fought to hold on to his job Thursday in a debate against the two men who hope to replace him , David Cameron of the Conservative Party and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats . But he lost the debate decisively , according to two snap polls . Cameron came first in both polls , with Clegg second and Brown third . But the debate performances do not seem to have changed voters ' minds about whom to back , according to one poll . Just over a third of voters say they favor the Conservatives , and the same number back the Liberal Democrats , according to the poll by ComRes for ITV News . Just under one-quarter prefer Labour , the poll suggests . Those numbers are essentially unchanged from the results after a similar debate last week . In this week 's debate , Brown repeatedly insisted that Cameron represents `` the same old Conservative party , '' which would take money out of the economy for `` ideological reasons . '' The Conservatives are ahead of Brown 's Labour party in most polls , but it 's not clear that the lead will be enough to give them a majority when voters cast ballots on May 6 . A confident-seeming Cameron fended off Brown 's attacks , saying time and again that Brown was wrong on the facts . `` David , you 've just got it wrong economically , '' Brown said in one of the sharpest exchange , saying his party was `` the same old Conservative party of the 1930s and the 1980s and the 1990s . '' `` Every leading business leader says we have got it right , '' Cameron shot back . They crossed swords again about unemployment , with Brown warning `` we do n't want the labor market of the 1980s , '' when the Conservatives were in power . `` It 's the same old Tories . '' Cameron fired back that Brown does n't `` even know what country you 're prime minister of -- he 's caused record youth unemployment . '' Full election coverage . Brown continually shook his head as Cameron leveled criticism at the Labour Party , while Cameron tended to stare ahead into the studio audience when he came under attack . Clegg , whose Liberal Democrats are traditionally also-rans but are riding high on the back of their leader 's debate performances , struggled to appear relevant as the leaders of the two big parties traded barbs . `` The way they got us into this mess is not the way out , '' he said , gesturing to the politicians on either side of him . The first half of the debate focused on the economy , one of the main concerns on voters ' minds . Members of the audience asked about government spending cuts , the fairness of the tax system , bankers ' bonuses , and how to rebuild the British manufacturing sector . The debate got even sharper in the second half when the hot-button issue of immigration came up . Cameron accused the Liberal Democrats of wanting an `` amnesty for illegal immigrants , '' while Clegg shot back that the only politician who wanted that was the Conservative mayor of London , Boris Johnson . Voters across England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland cast ballots for 650 members of Parliament on May 6 . The party with the largest number of MPs traditionally gets the first chance to form the government . Either Labour or the Conservatives usually gets an absolute majority , but polls suggest the Liberal Democrats may capture enough seats to prevent one party from having more than half of the seats in Parliament . Quirks in the voting system mean that the party with the most votes does not always get the most seats . The last time no party got a majority , in 1974 , a new election was called within months . Labour has been in power in Britain since 1997 , first under Tony Blair , and under Brown since 2007 . The Conservatives governed Britain for 18 years before that .
British political leaders clash in final televised debate before May general election . Snap polls hand victory to Conservative Party leader David Cameron . ' Gordon Brown says Cameron is ` ` same old Conservatives '' Focus on economy : ` ` Every leading business leader says we have got it right ''