THE final two contenders to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister will face off in a live TV debate on the BBC, it has been announced.
The programme will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC Radio Five Live at 9pm on Monday, July 25. It will be titled “Our Next Prime Minister” and filmed in front of an audience of around 80-100 people.
There are three candidates left in the race to No 10 after Tom Tugendhat was knocked out on Monday, and Kemi Badenoch followed on Tuesday afternoon.
The BBC confirmed that all of those still in the running have agreed to appear on the debate, despite Sky News being forced to cancel its own planned debate when Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss declined to take part.
The debate will be hosted by Sophie Raworth, who will be joined by BBC political editor Chris Mason and BBC economics editor Faisal Islam, who will be providing analysis of the candidates' answers.
The final two candidates will also be invited to appear on a show called Our Next Prime Minister: The Interviews, which will see them quizzed by the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
Truss, Sunak, and Penny Mordaunt will all fancy their chances of heading up the Tory Party.
A battle between Mordaunt and Truss is then expected to see who will face off against former chancellor Sunak in the final voting round. Unlike the rounds before it, the final will be voted on by all Tory Party members, not only MPs.
With Badenoch out, Truss looks more likely than Mordaunt to hoover up her former voters and move through to the final clash.
Polling has suggested that either one of the two women left in the race would beat Sunak in a vote of members.
Jonathan Munro, the interim director of BBC news and current affairs, said: "We're delighted to be offering BBC audiences the chance to be part of this pivotal moment in politics and hear, first-hand, from the final two candidates as they compete to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister."
