ITV Announces Plans For Leadership Debate

ITV has announced its proposals to broadcast the first ever televised debate between the Tory and Labour leaders.

Its plan allows for two 90 minute debates in front of an invited audience, allowing time for at least four major issues to be addressed in some detail. Each programme would see John Major and Tony Blair going “head-to-head” in two sections of the programme, with Paddy Ashdown being questioned in a separate section between the two Major/Blair confrontations.

Jonathan Dimbleby would chair the programme and be accompanied by Michael Brunson and Sue Lawley. The leaders would not be cross-examined by the audience.

Any programme would be jointly produced by ITN and LWT for the whole Network, with additional debates being run in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Marcus Plantin, the ITV Network director, also said that he expects at least 15 million viewers would tune into such a debate, which would probably be broadcast on a Sunday evening.

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