THE leaders of the UK's four largest parties will go head to head tonight in a two-hour debate in York.
Helmed by Fiona Bruce, the Question Time special will air on BBC One tonight at 8pm, with the debate also available on iPlayer.
Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak, John Swinney and Ed Davey will all be in attendance.
How will the debate work?
The debate will take on the classic Question Time format, with the BBC branding it the "Election 2024 Question Time Leaders' Special".
READ MORE: Douglas Ross 'doesn't care about climate emergency', blasts John Swinney
The leaders will have 30 minutes to answer questions from the live studio audience.
The BBC and the parties involved have agreed that the order of the leaders will be Davey, Swinney, Starmer and Sunak.
When are the next General Election debates?
There will be two debates left in this election period after tonight's Question Time show, all on the BBC.
The first, on June 26, will be another head-to-head debate between Starmer and Sunak.
It will start at 9pm and run for an hour, adopting a style similar to the one-on-one debate between Starmer and Sunak on ITV earlier this month.
READ MORE: BBC announces change to extended General Election debate
The second, on June 28, will be another Question Time debate, this time featuring Nigel Farage for Reform UK.
It was organised after Farage said he was upset at his lack of inclusion in tonight's debate.
The debate will start at 8pm, and will run until 10pm, again being hosted by Fiona Bruce.
The Green Party of England and Wales has also been invited to attend.
Separate Wales and Northern Ireland specific leaders' debates will also take place, similar to the Scotland leaders' debate on June 11.
On June 21 in Cardiff, Bethan Rhys Roberts will run a debate for Wales' party leaders.
And, in Belfast on June 27, Tara Mills will run one for Northern Irish party leaders.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel