Broadcasters to stick to Election Debate Plan

Broadcasters to stick to Election Debate Plan

Today the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky confirm they will continue with the series of televised leaders debates as planned in the General Election campaign.

The broadcasters welcome the fact that the Prime Minister has for the first time agreed to take part in a televised debate. However, the group believes there needs to be two seven way debates of a minimum of two hours each, within the election campaign, allowing time to properly represent the views of all parties, covering a broad range of subjects . The broadcasters also believe that a head to head debate between the two individuals who could become Prime Minister - David Cameron and Ed Miliband - is important - something the Prime Minister has publicly supported.

The debates will go ahead on the following dates:

2nd April: ITV produced seven way debate with the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, UKIP, the SNP and Plaid Cymru

16th April: BBC produced seven way debate with the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, UKIP, the SNP and Plaid Cymru

30th April: Sky News and Channel 4 produced head to head debate between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition

As Sky News and Channel 4 have already said they are prepared to hold the two party debate on a different date if the leaders of the Labour and Conservative parties can agree on a date.

The broadcasters would like the Prime Minister to reconsider taking part in all of these debates. 22 million people watched the leaders debates in 2010 and there is a public desire and expectation for them to happen again in 2015

The broadcasters proposals have come after extensive work over the last six months to ensure the public have the opportunity to watch televised election debates once more. The group have worked in an independent, impartial manner, treating invited parties on an equitable basis. They have listened to the views expressed by all parties and adapted the proposals to take into account electoral support.

The broadcasters will continue to work closely with all parties invited to take part in the televised debates to bring them to their millions of viewers across the UK. The heads of news of all four broadcasters would welcome the opportunity to meet Mr Cameron, or his representatives, to discuss the debates.

Letter from Broadcasters to Craig Oliver

Dear Craig

Thank you for your letter of 4th March.

We are responding as the broadcasters group and as you released your letter to the press we will be making this response public too.

The broadcasters have over the past six months worked hard to ensure that our viewers have the opportunity to watch election debates in 2015. We have done so in an independent, impartial manner, treating invited parties on an equitable basis. We have listened to the views expressed by all parties and, as we promised from the outset, have kept evidence about electoral support, public attitudes to the debates and appropriate participation under review.

The debates were enormously well received by 22 million viewers in 2010 and our research has shown that there is a public desire and a public expectation for debates in 2015.

We have consistently set out our intention to hold three debates during the unusually long formal election campaign period 30th March to 7th May 2015. We spaced the planned debates two weeks apart, twice the length of time between debates as compared to 2010. The dates - 2nd April, 16th April and 30th April - were first published in October 2014 and have not been changed.

We believe that the formal election period is the right time to hold election debates. It is the point at which the parties have published their election manifestos and the point at which the electorate as a whole is most engaged with discussion of election issues and the public debate about the future of the country.

In October we proposed one head-to-head debate between the two leaders who could realistically become Prime Minister and two debates between more parties. We listened to all parties views on the proposals - both those initially invited and others - and we reviewed the developing evidence on electoral support and public attitudes to the debates. In discussions the Conservatives argued for a more inclusive set of debates and in particular called for the inclusion of the Greens. We listened to that argument and to others expressed by other parties and by members of the public. We considered evidence of increased electoral support for some parties - notably the SNP and to some degree the Greens - and looked at some evidence that there was public support for a more inclusive format in the debates.

Taking into account all these factors, we made a decision to adjust our proposal to make it even more inclusive - keeping the two party head-to-head debate but expanding the two multi-party debates to include all the main choices available to voters in England, Wales and Scotland. The parties included were: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, UKIP, SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens.

Separately, it was confirmed that BBC Northern Ireland and UTV were planning debates including all the five separate major parties in Northern Ireland -- DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP, SDLP and the Alliance Party.

The two sets of debates would enable all voters in the United Kingdom to see debates with the leaders of the main choices they were able to vote for.

We noted the Conservatives initial welcoming tone for our amended proposal.

On the basis of this proposal - first tabled in October - and amended to take into account changing facts and input from parties, notably including the Conservatives, we have conducted numerous meetings and conversations with representatives of all parties invited. These have taken place in an organised manner, following cl

LINK:	http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/broadcasters-stick-elect...
	See more stories from itv

Most recent headlines