Hosted by Martin Stanford, the live blogging session was completely interactive, enabling readers to submit questions and to watch the blog in real time. 

The main candidates partaking in the online debate for the Crewe and Nantwich by-election were Tamsin Dunwoody (Labour), Elizabeth Shenton (Lib Dem) and Edward Timpson (Conservative).

An impressive move was on the part of Labour’s candidate Tamsin Dunwoody, who inserted a hyperlink in referencing a tax package; although, the hyperlink lead to nowhere, I give Dunwoody an A for effort and note the useful tactic in future online debates for those candidates tech-savvy enough to use hyperlinks.

One questionable side note of online debates is the ability for campaign staff to do the debating rather than the actual candidate, a concern voiced by Tamsin Dunwoody, who replied to a comment  by Conservative candidate Edward Timpson with, “Hi Edward. Are you actually writing this or one of your spin doctors...sounds like it LOL”

Fired with questions that would have left the candidates stuttering at a microphone, the online debate had the same rigor and passion that televised debates encompass; but I’d prefer the caps and ‘LOL’ remarks be left to teenage bloggers.

Watch Sky News Online’s Live Blog Session with the Crewe & Nantwich candidates.