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Labour Party leader Helen Clark has accused National Party leader John Key of throwing a tantrum in Tuesday night's ONE News YouTube leaders' debate.
And while many commentators called the debate a victory for the National leader, Clark says expectations were so low for him, that he won marks for not collapsing on set.
Clark seemed to emerge very positive after the debate on Tuesday.
"I enjoyed the debate tonight," she said. "I think it was a good old fashioned debate on the issues and I hope that means we've banished any idea that this is a bitter election debate."
However on the campaign trail on Wednesday, that had changed, Clark complaining that host Mark Sainsbury didn't do enough to keep the leaders talking over one another.
"If the moderator isn't active, then that will lead to the participants having to intervene themselves," she said on Wednesday.
And intervene she did.
Most commentators said Key had performed better in the debate, and 67% of those who paid to take part in a phone and text poll agreed.
But Clark puts that result down to Key exceeding low expectations.
"They've had a disastrous start to the campaign, so the fact that he didn't collapse with a stress attack on set probably gave him marks," she says.
