Nick Robinson to grill party leaders over BBC general election coverage

Party leaders have not yet formally agreed to an interview with Nick Robinson, but all are expected to do so. Photo: Gary Doak/Alami

Nick Robinson will present a series of BBC television interviews with party leaders during the general election campaign as broadcasters begin to plan their coverage.

Former BBC political editor, now presenter on Radio Four The Tonight Show will take over Andrew Neil's role during the 2019 campaign.

That same year, Neil clashed with Boris Johnson, who refused to take part in the show. Although he made a number of challenges, the then Tory leader did not agree to an interview.

Current party leaders have yet to formally agree to an interview with Mr Robinson, but all are expected to say yes.

The format will likely be the same as in 2019, when leaders gave one-on-one on-camera interviews lasting 30 minutes.

Preliminary discussions have been held with broadcasters about the format and frequency of election debates, with Both broadcasters and party insiders expected a repeat of the 2019 structure, when Mr Johnson and Labor's Jeremy Corbyn faced each other twice.

Other formats included multiple party leaders taking to the stage at the same time or taking turns answering questions from the audience.

Some Conservative Party figures believe Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has a better understanding of the economy than Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labor Party , could prove this during the debate.

Usually in election campaigns, the leader has the most to lose from debates, which give someone behind in the polls a chance to change the political situation.

With Labor ahead of the Tories by around 20 percentage points, Sir Keir is in this position. His team has said he will say yes to pre-election debates.

A reformist Britain, which has overtaken the Liberal Democrats to third place in the national polls, will demand a place on as many stages of pre-election debates as possible.

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Richard Tice, the Reform leader, told The Telegraph his party should have been included in the election debate. The party's support among voters has roughly doubled since the summer.

Each broadcaster deals directly with political parties in pre-election debates, meaning there is bound to be an element of jockeying for position before the final schedule is announced.

GB News is proposing a repeat of its People's Forum event with Mr Sunak in January, in which viewers asked questions without being vetted by the broadcast team.

He planned to hold an event with Mr Sunak in attendance. Sunak and Sir Keir, but the January program is being investigated by Ofcom for possible breaches of impartiality rules, complicating plans.

Talks about pre-election debates in the summer will heat up if, as many expect, a general election is held in the autumn.