BBC election debate: The audience was not quite as left-wing as Nigel Farage thought

'It pains me to say it but I think Nigel Farage won' says youngest member of the audience, who attacked ‘poisonous’ nationalist leaders and 'poor' Ed Miliband

Audience member Inaya Shoneyin was won over by Nigel Farage

Not everyone in the audience for last night’s leaders’ debate was as “left-wing” as Nigel Farage would have everyone believe.

Inaya Shoneyin, an 18-year-old member of the audience who asked one of the questions, was won over by Nigel Farage’s attack on the BBC after he accused the broadcaster of fielding a biased audience.

“Many people I spoke to did think it was a left-leaning audience,” she told The Independent after the debate between Mr Farage, Ed Miliband, Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett.

“It bruises me to say but I think Nigel Farage won and I think that he made a legitimate point about commenting on the audience – it showed that those with the loudest voice always get heard the most.

“There was a silent minority that actually disagreed with the views put forward with the trio [of women] there. It pains me to say it but I think Nigel Farage won.”

She attacked the three women in the debate for sending out a “poisonous” message to voters over breaking up the United Kingdom and crippling debt but also said it was a “bad night for democracy” because of David Cameron’s refusal to take part.

Ms Shoneyin rounded on Ed Miliband for failing to “put forward an alternative vision for the country”.

The only leader who impressed her was Mr Farage. “I wouldn’t touch Nigel Farage with a barge pole but he was the only leader who went against the grain and actually decided to say something that was unpopular and different because it was what he believed in,” she said .

The five leaders debate became heated over the issue of the NHS (Getty)

“I found the debate deeply disappointing. You had the leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens creating a united front against the Conservatives and singing exactly the same tune.

"You’ve got two members of the panel who want to break up the United Kingdom, you had Ed Miliband refusing to actually put his case forward, putting forward an alternative vision for the country

“It bruises me to say but I think Nigel Farage won and I think that he made a legitimate point about commenting on the audience – it showed that those with the loudest voice always get heard the most.

"Many people I spoke to did think it was a left-leaning audience, or at least there was a silent minority that actually disagreed with the views put forward with the trio there. It pains me to say it but I think Nigel Farage won.”

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