Cameron gets his way as TV debates finally fixed
Four televised events okayed - and PM gets away with his plan to evade face-to-face with Miliband
After months of haggling, a deal has been reached between the broadcasters and the political parties on the make-up of the pre-election televised leader debates.
Most commentators see David Cameron and his election strategist Lynton Crosby as the winners of this showdown: there will be no face-to-face with Ed Miliband and therefore no risk of the Labour leader getting the chance to blow the Tory narrative that he’s an uncomfortable geek who’s not fit to be PM.
The voters are the big losers: they don’t get a head-to-head debate between the two men fighting to lead the country from 8 May: instead they get a number of TV ‘specials’ of a kind they might have expected to see anyway on the eve of a general election.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Here’s the schedule:
26 March, Channel 4 and Sky:
A 90-minute programme that will involve Cameron and Miliband being interviewed separately before answering questions from a live studio audience. Neither man will come face-to-face. The co-presenters are the odd couple of these pre-election specials – Jeremy Paxman, late of BBC Newsnight, and Kay Burley, the Sky News anchor.
2 April, ITV:
An actual debate, but with seven party leaders taking part: Cameron, Miliband, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage of Ukip, Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP, Natalie Bennett of the Greens and Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru. It will be moderated by ITV News at Ten anchor Julie Etchingham. Commentators say that with so many people involved, it will be hard to get a real debate going: it could end up as more of a Q&A.
16 April, BBC:
A debate between the five opposition party leaders – Miliband, Farage, Sturgeon, Bennett and Wood - but not including the two governing party leaders, Cameron and Clegg. Some are asking why Ed Miliband – currently the most likely to be leading the largest party on 8 May – should be reduced to arguing with the minnows. To be moderated by David Dimbleby.
30 April, BBC:
A Question Time special with regular presenter David Dimbleby in the chair – and it takes place exactly a week before election day. The three main party leaders, Cameron, Miliband and Clegg, will each appear – separately, of course – to answer questions from a live studio audience. Nigel Farage has cause for complaint: current polling shows Ukip way ahead of the Lib Dems in terms of national vote share – but he’s not invited.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: December 22, 2024
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published