General election 2019: When will TV debates take place?
Election debate: How to watch the BBC's seven-way election debate
(6 days later)
The first leaders' TV debate ahead of the 2019 general election took place on Tuesday.
On Friday, leading politicians from seven major political parties will participate in a live TV election debate in Cardiff, chaired by Nick Robinson.
They have been part of the build-up to polling day since 2010. So when are they taking place this time, and who is taking part?
TV debates have been part of the build-up to polling day since 2010. Here's how the debate will unfold.
What is an election debate?
How can I follow the programme live?
The debates are often seen as key moments in a campaign. The party leaders' answers, body language and any slip-ups are scrutinised in the aftermath.
In the UK, it will be broadcast on the BBC News channel and on iPlayer from 19:00 to 20:30 and streamed live on the BBC News website, where you can also follow the latest reaction and analysis on our live page.
During the debate, party leaders are given the opportunity to discuss each others' manifesto pledges, as well as any remarks made on the campaign trail.
There'll also be a half-hour preview programme starting at 18:30 and an hour-long programme live from the "spin room" afterwards, with reaction from specialist correspondents from the Reality Check team.
The debates usually include questions from the host on a variety of topics, such as Brexit, the economy or transport, followed by questions from the audience.
It will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live. You can listen live here or on the BBC Sounds app.
Each debate typically lasts up to 90 minutes and millions of people tune in to see the leaders held to account.
Outside the UK, you can watch the programme streamed live on the BBC News website and on BBC World News from 19:00-21:00 GMT.
When are the election debates?
Who's taking part?
The first debate, between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, took place on 19 November. The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg says the event was unlikely to be a "game-changer".
The seven participants will draw lots to determine who stands where and the order of opening and closing statements.
A BBC Question Time Leaders' Special was then held on 22 November, which saw Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon take questions from the audience.
What issues are likely to come up?
Sky News has proposed a debate between Mr Johnson, Mr Corbyn and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, to take place on 28 November.
Conservatives: How the party has dealt with accusations of Islamophobia, and whether the NHS would be "on the table" in post-Brexit trade talks. What Rishi Sunak will want to talk about is Brexit - expect to hear the party's "Get Brexit done," slogan.
And the BBC has announced it will broadcast two election debate programmes, as well as a special aimed at younger audiences. Its coverage will include:
Labour: How it is dealing with claims of anti-Semitism. Also expect questions on its Brexit plan. Rebecca Long-Bailey will want to talk about the NHS and Labour's claims a Tory government would put it at risk in a post-Brexit US trade deal.
Who gets to take part?
Liberal Democrats: The party is fighting the election on stopping Brexit, so expect plenty of commentary on this. Leader Jo Swinson could also be asked about potential deals with either the Tories or Labour in the event of a hung Parliament.
At the moment, it's up to each broadcaster to decide how many parties are involved in a leaders' debate, and whether they even take place.
SNP: The SNP also wants to stop Brexit, and leader Nicola Sturgeon can also expect questions on whom she would support if no one party gained a majority. A second Scottish referendum is also high on the SNP agenda.
The Liberal Democrats and the SNP lost their legal challenge against ITV over its decision to exclude their leaders from the channel's first election debate.
Plaid Cymru: Brexit - the party backs remaining in the EU, despite Wales voting to leave. Plaid Cymru wants a further referendum on EU membership, as well as a vote on Welsh independence by 2030.
ITV said it would hold a live interview-based programme alongside the leaders' head-to-head to allow other parties to comment, as well as another multi-party debate ahead of the 12 December poll.
Green Party: Caroline Lucas will want to talk about tackling the "climate emergency". But expect her to be quizzed on how the Greens would finance their plan to spend £100bn a year on climate action.
The Lib Dems said they wanted their pro-Remain stance to be represented, while the SNP also wanted the issue of Scottish independence to be raised.
Brexit Party: Its backing for a "clean-break Brexit". Richard Tice could also face questions on the party's plan to cap net migration at 50,000 a year and the decision to stand down candidates in Tory-held seats.
Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, argued that ITV was breaking broadcasting rules set by watchdog Ofcom, by not giving "due weight" to her party in an election period.
How are the questions and the audience selected?
The Lib Dems have also sent a legal letter to the BBC over its decision not to include its leader in a debate on 6 December.
Questions will come from members of the audience recruited by the BBC's opinion research partner Savant ComRes, and from members of the public who have submitted questions via the BBC website.
Some politicians have chosen not to take part in the past. Theresa May's rivals criticised her absence in the seven-way 2017 general election debate.
The audience has been selected to reflect the country's demographic distribution and political views.
In 2015, a planned one-on-one debate between Labour leader Ed Miliband and Prime Minister David Cameron did not take place, following the breakdown of negotiations between the broadcasters and the political parties. However, there was a two-hour debate featuring the leaders of seven parties, including Labour, Conservative, the Lib Dems, UKIP, the Greens, SNP and Plaid Cymru.
And, says Jonathan Munro, the BBC's head of newsgathering, it is being weighted to reflect the Brexit vote and will have a slim majority of people who voted Leave over Remain (except for a few young voters who weren't old enough to vote in the referendum).
When was the first TV debate?
The editorial team will pick the questions, with the aim of reflecting the issues that matter to the public and feature prominently during the election campaign.
As long ago as 1964, there were calls for televised debates in the UK. Labour's Harold Wilson challenged Conservative Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home to one. He refused the offer.
What are the parties promising you?
Decades passed, and resistance remained. Critics said that TV debates between leaders risked turning a political campaign into entertainment.
Here's a concise guide to where the parties stand on key issues, including Brexit, education and the NHS.
In the US, the first nationally televised face-off between Democratic and Republic presidential candidates took place in 1960, and featured John F Kennedy and his rival Richard Nixon.
How can these sort of TV debates influence an election campaign?
But arguably, the first presidential debate took place four years earlier, with two female opponents standing in for candidates Adlai Stevenson and then President Dwight Eisenhower. Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt represented the Democrats, and Margaret Chase Smith, the Republican party.
They are often seen as key moments - and participants' answers, body language and any slip-ups are closely scrutinised in the aftermath.
The first televised debates in the UK did not take place until 2010. Broadcasters and parties agreed to hold three head-to-head debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, then party leaders of Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats respectively.
The parties are given the opportunity to discuss each others' manifesto pledges, as well as any remarks made on the campaign trail.
Is there always an audience?
Journalists and political advisers watch from an adjoining room - called the "spin room". The spinners will be trying to convince the journalists their candidate "won" - and this can feed through into media coverage the next day.
There's nothing in electoral law that says a live audience has to be present.
So even if you don't watch the debate, you could be influenced by it. Which is why it's best to watch it, so that you can make up your mind for yourself.
But ahead of the 2010 debates, TV channel bosses agreed a few key "principles".
Younger people are more likely to watch these TV debates than other political programmes.
These included the presence of a live audience, selected from the local area by an agreed polling company to ensure fairness.
In 2017, the main debate programme had a younger viewing profile than most of the BBC's regular programmes that year.
Following the 2017 election debate broadcast by the BBC, questions were raised over the make-up of the audience.
And most viewers aged 18-34 agreed it improved their understanding of the key issues, a higher figure than for older viewers.
During the debate there was cheering and booing which led some, including then foreign secretary Boris Johnson, to suggest the audience was biased.
The polling company ComRes selected the audience. Its founder, Andrew Hawkins, said the recruitment of people to watch the debate was "more complex" than he had ever witnessed. .
He pointed out that five parties were left of centre, which meant "cheering is going to be skewed in one direction".
Awkward clashes between audience members and candidates can also gain a lot of attention.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage went viral after an election debate in 2015, where he criticised the studio audience, saying "the real audience are sitting at home".
