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Cameron beats Miliband in first TV contest before election - poll

A journalist standing in Downing Street holds cardboard cutouts of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (R) and Ed Miliband, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, in central London, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron won the first TV encounter before a close national election in Britain, turning in a stronger performance than Labour leader Ed Miliband, a poll showed on Thursday. The snap Guardian/ICM poll showed 54 percent of those asked thought Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, had won, compared to 46 percent who judged Miliband had triumphed. Both men were subjected to back-to-back but separate live TV interviews and question and answer sessions with a studio audience. Cameron conceded he'd made mistakes during his five years in power, but implored voters to give him a second term to finish the job of rebuilding the economy. Miliband said he had repeatedly defied his critics, was wrongly underestimated, and didn't care what the country's mostly right-wing press said about him. He predicted he would win an outright majority despite being level in the polls with Cameron's Conservatives. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)