UK General Election: BBC Details July 4 Coverage As News Teams Battle To Lock Down TV Debates With Haste
28.05.2024 - 14:41
/ deadline.com
The BBC has set its election night coverage for the July 4 poll as broadcasters battle to secure debates with Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer as soon as possible.
Established presenters Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie will helm the BBC’s coverage in six weeks time, replacing Huw Edwards, who resigned from the BBC last month following a scandal involving his allegedly paying a young person for explicit images.
Kuenssberg, who hosts a topical Sunday show, and newsreader Myrie, will “bring insight, experience – and perhaps a little wit” alongside BBC political editor Chris Mason, according to the BBC, whose announcement on the coverage was always expected today.
Others set to feature on the night include Reeta Chakrabarti and Jeremy Vine analyzing results with the famous ‘swingometer’, Kirsty Wark, Fiona Bruce, Victoria Derbyshire, Naga Munchetty, Nick Watt and Alex Forsyth. Nick Robinson and Rachel Burden will be on the radio and Martin Geissler, Mark Carruthers, and Nick Servini will lead dedicated shows in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
“In this election, we have one thing on our minds above all else – the voters,” said BBC News CEO Deborah Turness. “Throughout the campaign we’ll be giving them the facts and information they need to make up their own minds. We know the way people are consuming news is changing; we’ll have the most comprehensive ever offer across every platform, so we can be where people are.”
Election debate battleground
For the more immediate future, the BBC and ITV are battling to secure the format and date for election debates, with the BBC saying in the past hour it has now “invited the leaders of the seven biggest political parties to participate in televised debates.”
Since they started