What time is the leaders debate in the UK?

How to watch the Question Time Leaders' Special on TV and BBC iPlayer. The two hour special will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on Thursday 20 June.

Where is question time in York?

The University of York was the focus of the General Election on Thursday 20 June as it hosted the BBC Question Time Leaders' Debate.

What is the timing of the debate structure?

Structure of the Debate These are called the Constructive speeches, and they are five minutes long . The Affirmative side will always speak first. Following these speeches, there is a three-minute question segment. During the questioning segment, the Affirmative side will ask the first question.

Was Nigel Farage on Question Time?

The BBC will allow Reform UK to take part in an extra Question Time leaders' special after Nigel Farage complained about being excluded from the programme.

Who votes for the prime minister in the UK?

Who chooses the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch. The monarch's appointment of the Prime Minister is guided by constitutional conventions. The political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons at a general election usually forms the new government.

How does British parliamentary debate work?

How Does British Parliamentary Style Debating Work? Much like in the House of Commons, the debate is split into two opposing sides: the proposition (or government), and the opposition. Each side is then further divided into opening and closing teams – all four of which have two speakers.

Does England have a president or prime minister?

The prime minister is the head of the United Kingdom government. As such, the modern prime minister leads the Cabinet (the Executive). In addition, the prime minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons (the lower chamber of Parliament).

General election 2024: How to watch the BBC TV election debates (2024)

General election 2024: How to watch the BBC TV election debates (1)

Published

4 June 2024

Updated 24 June 2024

The BBC is hosting a head-to-head TV debate between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday 26 June.

Presented by Mishal Husain, the BBC Prime Ministerial Debate will be broadcast from Nottingham at 20:15 BST on BBC One, on radio, online and on BBC iPlayer.

Following the debate, Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie, the hosts of the BBC's election night coverage, will present reaction and analysis live from the debate venue.

An additional Question Time Leaders’ Special, featuring representatives from Reform UK and the Green Party, will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 20:00 BST on 28 June.

Both programmes will also be available on the BBC News Channel in the UK and overseas, and on the BBC News website as part of coverage and analysis in the live page.

Audiences can also tune in on the dedicated "Election 24" audio-only stream available on BBC Sounds and on smart speakers.

How to watch other TV debates

The BBC has offered a range of other dedicated debate programmes throughout the campaign.

Apart from the two UK-wide programmes, still to come is:

Northern Ireland: Tara Mills will moderate the Northern Ireland Leaders’ Debate on BBC One Northern Ireland on Thursday, 27 June, 21:00-22:00

Party leaders also facing BBC interviews

As well as the debates, the BBC has invited the leaders of the seven biggest political parties to be interviewed by broadcaster Nick Robinson.

So far, five have taken place and are available to watch back on iPlayer:

Rishi Sunak, Conservative Party
John Swinney, SNP
Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru
Sir Keir Starmer, Labour Party
Nigel Farage, Reform UK

Coming up are interviews with:

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party, on Monday, 24 June at 19:00
Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats, on Friday, 28 June at 19:30

The interviews will be BBC Panorama specials and will air at 19:00 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

How to follow the general election on BBC News

BBC News has a wide range of content planned to guide you through the campaign, right up to election night on 4 July.

Whether you are in the UK or overseas, its comprehensive coverage will be available across every platform.

Online

Follow all the election developments on the BBC News website and app.

Daily live pages will bring you the latest from the campaign trail and you can follow General election 2024 for simple explainers and in-depth analysis from BBC News political correspondents and experts.

There will also be full live coverage of all of the BBC TV debates.

International users can access all BBC News election content on BBC.com

On election night, follow the full results as they come in.

And BBC News cameras and reporters across the country will feed live pages and video streams, so you will not miss a thing.

Sign up for our Election Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments in the general-election campaign. It’ll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Television and streaming

Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie will host BBC News' election night coverage, along with BBC political editor Chris Mason and other experts.

The programme will be on BBC One in England, BBC Two in Wales and Northern Ireland, and the BBC News channel for audiences in Scotland and overseas.

Dedicated election results programmes on BBC One in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales will be presented by Martin Geissler, Mark Carruthers, and Nick Servini respectively, with Anne McAlpine hosting a Gaelic-language election round-up on BBC Alba.

You can also keep up to date with the campaign through the BBC News Channel’s daily coverage and the Election 2024 livestream on BBC iPlayer.

Radio

The BBC News flagship Newscast programme has been rebranded as Electioncast for the duration of the campaign.

Adam Fleming and the BBC News political team will provide a daily update on all things election.

Audio-only political coverage will also be available on the “Election 24” stream on BBC Sounds and on smart speakers.

On election night, Electioncast will invite listeners to join their audience watch-along.

BBC Radio 4’s election-night coverage will be hosted by Rachel Burden and Nick Robinson.

For analysis, they will be joined by BBC News chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman.

Global audiences can follow events, with a mix of dedicated UK-election coverage and international news, through the BBC World Service.

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