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Sky News, the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have announced their plans to cover election night 2024 and the campaign – including several leadership debates.
Find details about their plans for coverage below.
Broadcasters’ election night plans
ITV: Tom Bradby to lead overnight coverage
Tom Bradby will again lead ITV’s election night coverage after anchoring the results programmes in 2015, 2017 and 2019, the broadcaster announced on 10 June.
Bradby will be joined in the studio throughout the night by guests including ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Political Currency podcast hosts and former politicians George Osborne and Ed Balls.
ITV News political editor Robert Peston, deputy political editor Anushka Asthana and UK editor Paul Brand will also be on hand alongside election analysts Professor Jane Green and Professor Colin Rallings, while ITV News reporters will be bringing news from around the country.
Balls will return at 6am with Susanna Reid as Good Morning Britain comes on air with guests including Mail and Mirror journalists Andrew Pierce and Kevin Maguire, Boris Johnson’s former communications chief Guto Harri, Labour veterans Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
After GMB ends at 9.25am, Julie Etchingham will lead continued coverage of the results.
Michael Jermey, ITV’s director of news and current affairs, said; “ITV will be on air from just before the polls close right through until the full results are known. Tom Bradby and his guests will share great analysis and insider knowledge with our viewers through the night. With cameras and reporters right around the country we’ll follow the political story wherever it goes.
“Good Morning Britain will be on air in its regular slot and then through the rest of day two, as politicians head to Westminster having learned the results, Julie Etchingham and our team of political correspondents will be live on ITV1 reporting on all the events in Westminster and Downing Street. It promises to be a dramatic day.”
Sky News: Kay Burley to lead overnight results coverage
Sky News was the first broadcaster to announce its plans for covering the 4 July UK general election night and results after Sunak announced the date on 22 May.
Chief presenter Kay Burley will anchor Election Night Live, the overnight results programme, from a “360-degree immersive studio” normally used by Sky Sports shows like Monday Night Football.
Burley will be covering her twelfth UK general election – her first was the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
She will be joined by political editor Beth Rigby, Sunday show presenter Sir Trevor Phillips and data and economics editor Ed Conway who will provide analysis and predictions using 3D graphics.
Mayor of Greater Manchester and former Labour MP Andy Burnham will join former MSP and leader of the Scottish Conservatives Baroness Ruth Davidson to provide guest analysis. Davidson recently joined Rigby as co-hosts for a new Sky News podcast, Electoral Dysfunction, also with Labour MP Jess Phillips.
Professor Michael Thrasher will lead the Sky News psephology team, as he has at every election since 1989.
From 7am the following day, lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, host of Sky’s Politics Hub, will report live from Westminster joined by deputy political editor Sam Coates and Sky News contributor Adam Boulton.
Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes said: “We saw a tremendous response to our coverage of this month’s local elections—and we’ll have much, much more to offer at this UK general election, with the most experienced team, plus the most comprehensive data and analysis, presented online and on TV from the most state-of-the-art studio in the country.
“Our political team is the best in the business—Kay, Sophy, Beth, Trevor, Ed, Sam, and more are ready to bring audiences the full story, first.”
Sky News will host a leaders’ event in Grimsby on 12 June with Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak.
Sam Coates and Jack Blanchard have gone daily (Monday to Friday) with their Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast.
The broadcaster has signed up Yougov for a weekly voting intention poll.
Sky has said it plans to continue with its Electoral Dysfunction podcast featuring Phillips and Davidson. Ofcom has banned candidates from taking part in any TV or radio programmes during the campaign.
Channel 4: Krishan Guru-Murthy joined by Emily Maitlis
Channel 4 announced its presenter and guest line-up for election night in April, before Sunak had announced the July election.
Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy will lead the coverage alongside The News Agents co-host and former BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis.
They will be joined throughout the night by fellow podcasters The Rest is Politics hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, as well as “some familiar faces from Gogglebox” providing their takes on the election campaign.
Cathy Newman will be presenting from the campaign HQs for the Conservatives and Labour and Channel 4 News political editor Gary Gibbon will provide analysis.
Clare Balding was originally announced to break down the data for the team but, due to the date that has been announced, can no longer do it as she will be presenting Wimbledon coverage for the BBC.
Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, said: “Even superwoman Clare Balding can’t be in two places at once…”
Guru-Murthy said: “I’m so looking forward to joining this brilliant line-up of people to capture an exciting and historic night. We will have piercing analysis, sharp interviews and all those memorable moments as the results come in. I think this is going to be one of those rare election nights we remember for decades so I hope viewers will enjoy spending it with us.”
BBC News: Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie to lead
The BBC announced on Tuesday 28 May that Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie will front its election night coverage, replacing Huw Edwards. They will be joined by BBC political editor Chris Mason and newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti who will provide analysis as seats are announced.
The move makes Kuenssberg the first woman to anchor the BBC on election night and marks the first time the occasion has been led by two people.
Jeremy Vine returns to helm the “swingometer”, the sometimes flamboyant data visualisation segment that has previously seen Vine in a computer-generated Elizabeth Tower and walking around a virtual Downing Street. Pollster John Curtice will also return to provide analysis.
Vine will broadcast from Cardiff. Kirsty Wark, who announced in October that she will end her 30 years hosting Newsnight after the election, will broadcast from Glasgow, and Radio 4 presenter Andrea Catherwood from Belfast.
Fiona Bruce, Victoria Derbyshire, Naga Munchetty, Nick Watt and Alex Forsyth will be “among the BBC presenters and correspondents reporting from key locations around the country”, the corporation said.
Today programme presenter Nick Robinson, BBC 5 Live presenter Rachel Burden and BBC chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman will helm Radio 4 and, from midnight, 5 Live via a simulcast.
National television results programmes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will be hosted respectively by Martin Geissler, Mark Carruthers, and Nick Servini.
Newsreaders Sophie Raworth and Jon Kay, along with deputy political editor Vicki Young, will pick up the baton from the overnight presenters on the morning of 5 July.
BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness said the corporation had “assembled a fresh, dynamic team to bring insight, experience – and perhaps a little wit – to audiences for the whole election night and beyond”.
The BBC added that it has invited “the leaders of the seven biggest political parties” to take part in televised debates, although Labour sources told BBC News last week that Starmer wants to do head-to-head debates with Sunak alone.
Broadcasters’ election leadership debate plans
Confirmed leadership debates:
- Tuesday 4 June: ITV head-to-head leaders debate moderated by Julie Etchingham
- Friday 7 June: BBC seven-party debate moderated by Mishal Husain
- Wednesday 12 June: Sky News head-to-head leaders special with interviews by Beth Rigby
- Thursday 13 June: ITV multi-party debate presented by Julie Etchingham
- Thursday 20 June: BBC Question Times Leaders’ special featuring four leaders, hosted by Fiona Bruce
- Wednesday 26 June: BBC head-to-head leaders debate hosted by Mishal Husain
BBC to host three election debates
The BBC has announced that it is to host a head-to-head party leaders debate for Starmer and Sunak on Wednesday 26 June, in Nottingham.
The debate was originally due to be hosted by Sophie Raworth but she has stepped down due to a fractured ankle so it will be led by Mishal Husain.
The debate has also been extended to last from 8.15pm to 9.30pm and will be followed by reaction and analysis from Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie until 10pm.
A seven-party debate, featuring leading political figures, will be broadcast on 7 June from London at 7.30pm moderated by Mishal Husain. The seven representatives are: Penny Mordaunt for the Conservatives, Angela Rayner for Labour, Daisy Cooper for the Lib Dems, Stephen Flynn for the SNP, Carla Denyer for the Greens, Rhun ap Iorwerth for Plaid Cymru and Nigel Farage for Reform UK.
And a Question Time Leaders’ special featuring the leaders of the four biggest political parties in the UK will be broadcast on 20 June hosted by Fiona Bruce.
Today presenter and former BBC political editor Nick Robinson has also invited each of the leaders of the seven biggest political parties to be interviewed for Panorama specials across the next four weeks.
All of the programmes will be broadcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel.
Sky News confirms Grimsby leaders special
Sky News has confirmed both Sunak and Starmer will take part in a leaders special programme with a live studio audience in Grimsby on Wednesday 12 June.
Both Sunak and Sunak will take part in a 20-minute interview with political editor Beth Rigby before taking questions from the audience for 25 minutes. There will be a coin toss to decide who goes first.
The leaders event will take place between 7.30pm and 9pm with special programming before and after led by Sophy Ridge.
Sky said Grimsby was chosen because its new Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency “is complex and likely to be a key battleground in the election”.
Appearing to reference the first debate by ITV which was criticised for only allowing answers of 45 seconds, Sky News executive editor and managing editor Jonathan Levy said: “People said they wanted to hear more from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, so Sky News is giving them more time to tell you about their plans for your future. Each candidate. 45 minutes – not 45 seconds… In-depth and unfiltered. We’re giving the nation the full story, first.”
ITV to host first debate
ITV will host the first debate of the election campaign, which will be a head-to-head match-up between Starmer and Sunak.
The hour-long debate, titled Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate and moderated by ITV News at Ten presenter Julie Etchingham, will air at 9pm on Tuesday 4 June.
ITV said the debate will broadcast simultaneously on ITV1 and STV and online via ITVX and STV Player.
Etchingham previously moderated general election debates in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
ITV director of news and current affairs Michael Jermey said: “Millions of viewers value the election debates. They provide a chance to see and hear the party leaders set out their pitch to the country, debate directly with each other and take questions from voters.
“ITV is pleased to be broadcasting the first debate in this year’s election campaign.”
ITV will also host a 90-minute multi-party debate, also moderated by Etchingham, with leaders or senior representatives from the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP, Reform UK, Green Party and Plaid Cymru at 8.30pm on Thursday 13 June.
The post Election 2024: How broadcasters are covering UK general election appeared first on Press Gazette.
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