The election betting scandal is likely to come up in the BBC debate, but Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer may not be asked about a new development. The Sun is claiming that the Tory Philip Davies has placed a £8,000 bet on his losing his Shipley constituency. When Davies spoke to the paper, he did not dispute the story, but he told the reporter: “What’s it go to do with you whether I did or didn’t?” He also said he would be “busting a gut” to win his seat.
The Sun points out that there is nothing illegal in a candidate betting against himself. But yesterday Keir Starmer disowned a Labour candidate who bet that he would lose.
Tonight’s debate is not expected to affect the outcome of the general election. On LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, Philip Hammond, the former Tory chancellor, said the result was decided almost two years ago. He said:
In my own mind, the outcome of this election, maybe not the magnitude of it, but the outcome of the election was determined in the autumn of 2022. I think the public had started to make up its mind during the Partygate shenanigans, and then the Liz Truss government was the final straw for many people.
If you want to watch the BBC debate with British sign language (BSL), that is available on the BBC News channel.
Rishi Sunak has arrived at the debate venue.
Rishi Sunak shaking hands with BBC directo general Tim Davie as he arrives for BBC's prime ministerial debate. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
This is from my colleague Jessica Elgot in the spin room at the debate venue, where she she says the election campaign really is hotting up.
We're now in the spin room for the BBC debate and it is BOILING. 🥵
Just heard Wes Streeting saying he's "broadcasting live from an incinerator."
We’re now in the spin room for the BBC debate and it is BOILING. 🥵
Just heard Wes Streeting saying he’s “broadcasting live from an incinerator.”
Candidates feeling the heat etc etc
Keir Starmer has arrived for the BBC debate.
Keir Starmer arriving for the BBC's prime ministerial debate in Nottingham. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Mishal Husain, the Today programme presenter, is hosting tonight’s debate. In an article for the BBC, she says she wants it to be a proper debate.
I’ve done two seven-way leaders’ debates before, in 2017 and earlier this month. Each time there are different complexities, and while you prepare by honing your knowledge of each party’s key policies - and their points of difference - you also want spontaneity and energy. A proper debate, really, rather than speech-making.
According to the BBC, the audience members have been chosen by the polling company Savanta and they include equal numbers of Conservative and Labour voters, as well as undecided voters.
Given the unpopularity of the Conservative party at the moment, this means the audience won’t be representative of the nation as a whole, but actually much more pro-Tory. Today’s Ipsos political monitor provided a good reminder of how unpopular the government has become.
Unpopularity of government Photograph: Ipsos
Good evening. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer are debating each other on the BBC at 8.15pm, and I’m here to cover the buildup and the debate itself, and to bring reaction and analysis afterwards. It is only the second prime ministerial debate of the election campaign, but Sunak and Starmer have been debating each other regularly at PMQs since Sunak became PM 20 months ago. Unless the opinion polls have managed to pull off the biggest collective failure of intelligence gathering since people started researching public opinion, it will also be the last time they debate with Sunak as PM.
Overall, Sunak has had a poor campaign which (so far, at least) has confounded the conventional wisdom that “polls always narrow” in the weeks before people actually cast their vote. But the first debate, the ITV one chaired by Julia Etchingham, was a relative highlight for him. A snap poll said he won narrowly, and Starmer has subsequently admitted that he was not happy with how he performed. The other big TV moments for the two leaders have been the Sky News leaders’ special, the BBC Question Time leaders’ special and the Sun TV Q&A
If you are looking for some of the topics that might come up, here is our live blog from earlier summing up all the day’s political developments.
I’m afraid we are not able to open comments tonight. I’m sorry about that. But if you want to flag something up to me, it is best to use X; I’ll see something addressed to @AndrewSparrow very quickly.
