THE BBC has now announced its line-up of televised General Election debates with the programmes set to begin on Friday, June 7.
Seven parties will take part in the broadcaster’s debates, including the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and Reform UK.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Which debates will the BBC host and when?
The first debate between all seven parties will take part on Friday, June 7, with Mishal Husain set to host.
It will be broadcast from 7.30pm to 9pm.
Following this, there will then be a Question Time leaders’ special on Thursday, June 20. This will take place in York.
Fiona Bruce (below) will present the show, although the Green Party and Reform will not take part.
It will be longer than normal editions of Question Time and be broadcast from 8pm until 10pm.
Finally, there will be a head-to-head debate on Wednesday, June 26 involving Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
It is understood this will be the last TV debate of the election campaign and will be broadcast from 9pm-10pm.
BBC News deputy chief executive Jonathan Munro said: “TV debates have become a key part of elections in the UK, giving voters the chance to hear leaders and senior politicians debate policies and ideas directly with each other, which rarely happens on the campaign trail.”
He added that providing a shared space for people to debate and discuss “is a vital part of our mission”.
The party’s representatives for the BBC’s seven-handed debate have not yet been confirmed.
The broadcaster also said there will be additional dedicated debates in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales with dates to be announced.
What other TV debates have been announced?
June 3 marks the first televised debate in this year’s General Election campaign with John Swinney, Anas Sarwar, Douglas Ross and Alex Cole-Hamilton set to go head-to-head on STV.
On Tuesday, ITV’s Julie Etchingham will host a debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer from 9pm.
This will be followed by a series of interviews with party leaders from the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Reform UK and the Green Party.
ITV has also announced that a multi-party debate will take place on June 13 at 8.30pm.
