It’ll be another busy General Election night on our TV screens – with a new debate and a special version of Question Time giving a very political flavour to the schedules.
On Wednesday evening, viewers watched on as Rishi Sunak was loudly booed and Keir Starmer opened up about his family in a pair of revealing head-to-head interviews on Sky News. Appearing separately, the two leaders faced a grilling from host Beth Rigby before taking direct questions from a very lively studio audience.
Tonight, seven key figures from the major parties will take part in a new debate on ITV1 – though neither Mr Sunak or Mr Starmer will be in attendance. Julie Etchingham will moderate as representatives from the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Reform UK, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru take to the stage.
Julie was also moderator last week in the heated head-to-head Sunak vs Starmer ITV debate. The format came in for criticism from viewers at home afterwards, who said that not enough time was allocated to discuss each topic, resulting in the leaders frequently being cut off to move the discussion on.
Tonight’s ITV debate will be a bit longer, hopefully meaning that more time is given to talk through the issues in depth. It will start at 8.30pm and end at 10.10pm.
Who is taking part in the ITV debate?
When: Thursday 13 June from 8.30pm to 10.10pm
Channel: ITV1
It’s the same seven party representatives who took part in last week’s seven-way BBC General Election debate. They are:
- Penny Mordaunt for Conservative Party
- Angela Rayner for Labour Party
- Daisy Cooper for Liberal Democrats
- Stephen Flynn for SNP
- Nigel Farage for Reform UK
- Carla Denyer for Green Party
- Rhun ap Iorwerth for Plaid Cymru
Who’s on BBC Question Time tonight?
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When: Thursday 13 June from 8pm to 9pm
Channel: BBC One
Fiona Bruce will also be returning for this week’s edition of the long-running BBC Question Time show. It’ll start at 8pm and end at 9pm, so there will be a small schedule clash with the ITV debate.
On the panel are the Scottish National Party’s Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes MSP, the Leader of the Conservatives in Scotland Douglas Ross MSP, the Leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar MSP, the chief strategist behind the 2014 campaign for Scottish independence Stephen Noon and the former UK Government adviser Iain Anderson.
What other debates and election shows are taking place?
Nick Robinson’s BBC Panorama interview with the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, will be broadcast on Friday 14 June at 7.30pm. On Thursday, June 20, there will be a BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special, as Fiona Bruce will present the show involving leaders of the four biggest political parties from 20:00-22:00.
The final head-to-head debate of the campaign between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, hosted by Mishal Husain, will take place in Nottingham on Wednesday 26 June at 8.15pm. It’ll be shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Listen to our punchy General Election podcast The Division Bell
Listen to our new The Division Bell podcast, hosted by Mirror political editor John Stevens and Express political editor Sam Lister.
Each episode will see John and Sam go head-to-head on a political topic – so listeners can expect a lively discussion!
New episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the General Election campaign, with a special edition on the morning after polling day.