BBC One to air Conservative leadership debate with final two candidates
The debate will air ahead of a summer of campaigning by the two final candidates.
The BBC has announced it will host a live TV debate between the final two candidates fighting to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
Our Next Prime Minister, presented by Sophie Raworth, will air on BBC One at 9pm on Monday (25th July), presented by Sophie Raworth.
The next vote in the Conservative leadership race is took place today (19th July), with just three contenders now remaining in the race after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated this afternoon.
There will then be a final vote on Wednesday to establish the final two leadership contenders.
Live TV debates have already been hosted by Channel 4 and ITV, with the candidates trading blows on a variety of subjects.
Jonathan Munro, the interim director of BBC News and Current Affairs, said: "We're delighted to be offering BBC audiences the chance to be part of this pivotal moment in politics and hear, first hand, from the final two candidates as they compete to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister."
The debate will be broadcast ahead of a summer of campaigning by the two final candidates, with the winner, who will become the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, set to be announced on Monday 5th September.
Alongside Raworth, BBC political editor Chris Mason and BBC economics editor Faisal Islam will offer their analysis on the candidates’ answers.
The debate will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live with coverage continuing after the show, as well as across the BBC News website and the BBC News Channel.
Following the debates hosted by Channel 4 and ITV, there was meant to be a third TV debate on Tuesday evening (19th July), with Kay Burley scheduled to put the remaining candidates to the test on Sky News.
However, the debate was cancelled after two of the four hopefuls in the ballots at the time – Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss – confirmed to Sky News that they did not want to take part.
Our Next Prime Minister will air on BBC One at 9pm on Monday (25th July). If you're looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.