The big four British broadcasting names have put their hand into the the fire pit that is UK politics in a bid to stage a series of 2015 election debates, giving the relative powerhouses in the bid for Parliamentary control a stage to let it all hang out. Though the plans haven’t been ratified by the government as of yet, they’re a good indicator that we’ll once again get to see the political leaders trying to persuade the public of their way of thinking live on TV, where anything could happen.
The plans as they stand are to join forces to deliver a series of live multi-platform party leader debated as a precursor to the 2015 UK general elections, giving the likes of David Cameron and Ed Miliband nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as they discuss their party’s standpoint on key policies for the next government. The broadcasts are intended to be live on air, online and through social media, providing the potential throughput to reach the masses, no matter what their demographic.
The party leaders have been invited by the broadcasting coalition to take part in three proposed debates and the first of these would see the two main contenders in terms of actually becoming the next Prime Minister (Conservative and Labour) going head to head. Co-developed by Sky and Channel 4 the debate would solely feature Ed Miliband and David Cameron with presenter Jeremy Paxman looking down his long nose at the pair of them as they scrap it out over health, transport, housing, welfare and the economy as a last push to win over the voting community.
The second proposed debate would feature the big three – Miliband, Cameron and Clegg – who have been invited by the BBC to take part in their version of political Fight Club, which will feature David Dimbleby presiding over the proceedings. If the debate is confirmed it will air live on BBC 1 with a whole lot of additional coverage on the rest of the Beeb’s TV and radio channels.
The last piece of the tryptic puzzle is probably going to be the most entertaining and possibly the most contentious of the three. The plan is that it will include Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and… duh, duh, duuuhhhh… the dastardly UKIP. Set to be developed and broadcast by ITV with Julie Etchingham overseeing the craziness, it’s clearly the panto version of the 2015 election debates and if Farage turns up in his Widow Twanky costume then all the better for ITV viewing figures to be honest.
It’ll be interesting to see whether or not David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband agree to take part in the debates, especially the last one, as it’s got the possibility of looking more like an episode of Jerry Springer than a general election debate. However, we’ll be surprised if any of them have got the bottle to snub the nations biggest televised media providers, so we should be on for a fair amount of vaguely credible political discussion followed by some shouting, name calling and a few rousing chants of “Julie, Julie, Julie!”
While there’s a big part of us that would recommend a fourth “debate” called Trial By Conquest, and aired live on Dave, featuring a battle royal of all the leaders donning Lycra wrestling leotards and duking it out in a UFC-style steel cage, the three on the cards will probably suffice. They should give people an easy way of comparing the various leaders, while also providing a little light relief in the self-lampooning commentary of Nigel Farage.
The proposal for the live shows build on the 2010 televised UK election debates, which introduced the concept to the UK, having been a part of the political landscape in other countries like the US for years. Nick Clegg and David Cameron were right in the thick of it the last time around, but Ed Miliband will be getting his debut having taken over as the leader of the Labour Party from the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
