CONSERVATIVES WIN UK MAJORITY

My analysis of an astonishing night for Radio New Zealand.

Listen here.

Olly Barratt

CONSERVATIVES EDGE TOWARDS MAJORITY

My take for Channel News Asia.

UK EXIT POLLS SUGGEST CONSERVATIVE 'WIN' - WHAT SHAPE COALITION?

Dan Whitehead and I have been at the LSE since exit polls were released suggesting a much better night for the Conservative Party than previous polling had forecast.

So if, and it's still an if, the reality reflects the exit polls - what will David Cameron do?

Professor Maurice Fraser believes we'll see another Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition, despite what looks like a disastrous night for the Lib Dems.

A long night remains ahead and much could change - but the few seats that have come in so far have done little to dispel the trends suggested by the exit polling.

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE UK POLLS ARE CORRECT?

All you need is a flipchart and some kids' crayons.



Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

THE WORLD WATCHES AS BRITAIN VOTES

FSN Chief Correspondent Simon Marks joined The Heat on CCTV to discuss the UK General Election and how it's being viewed in the White House and beyond.




There's lots more besides - including a discussion of the whole Scottish question.

Behind The Scenes - Parliament Media Village

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

Here is a little behind-the-scenes walkabout at the tented "media village" outside the Houses of Parliament ahead of election night:

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Voters and Marginal Seats

By Natalie Powell

Researchers in the UK believe that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) voters in this General Election could hold the keys to 10 Downing Street.

A racial demographic shift, which has seen more BME communities move out of cities and into the suburbs, may mean that the ethnic minority vote will have a big impact on as many as 168 marginal seats.

Omar Khan from race equality think tank The Runnymede Trust says politicians must better represent the needs of the BME diaspora in the UK, otherwise they risk losing this support both in the 2015 election and in future elections.

Political campaign group Operation Black Vote has introduced a 'Black Manifesto' to make politicians aware of the needs of the BME communities in Britain and highlight the need to rid the country of race inequality.

And according to the Runnymede Trust, one of the major issues for Britain's Black African communities is immigration.

To sum up, I'll leave you with my report on this subject for CCTV America

WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE WINS A PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY IN THE UK?

Olly Barratt explains for Channel News Asia.

UK ELECTION: 1 DAY TO GO

Dan Whitehead has this update from the final hours of campaigning for SABC News.

WILL THE UK ELECT ITS FIRST CHINESE MP?

Dan Whitehead has hit the campaign trail for CCTV News with some of the candidates bidding to become the UK's first MP of Chinese heritage.

Just what will happen after May 7th? #GE2015

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

(Updated 1st May)

There is no shortage of predictions about which parties will be able to team up for either a coalition or minority government after May 7th. But aside from who, there is the how. There is, supposedly, a process and timetable for all this to happen. Below is an outline of what happens if the result is, as predicted, a hung parliament. 

Firstly, Simon Hix, Head of Department of Government at LSE, told me, based on current polling, what the parties will be hoping to do:

Whatever type of government is formed, the announcement of its plan (Queen's Speech), is set for May the 27th, twenty days after voting day.

In 2010, the Con-Lib Dem coalition was agreed upon on May the 11th, 5 days after the election.

Once the result is known, both the Conservatives and Labour will try to strike deals to form a coalition which has the confidence of the House of Commons. This could take days - or weeks, all depending on the complexity of the result. 

All the time, the caretaker government remains in charge of the country.

If a coalition can't be reached, next up is a minority government. This works on a supply and demand deal, with smaller parties supporting a party with the most votes. Decisions are voted on issue by issue in return for its party policies being introduced. Minority governments are not considered to be strong and struggle to make any major changes. 

Update: During the final round of TV Q&As with party leaders, Labour leader Ed Miliband said he would not enter a "coalition or deal" with the SNP. 

Ed Miliband: "I am not going to have a Labour government if it means deals or coalitions with the Scottish National Party…it's not going to happen. I couldn't be clearer with you."

But with the potential complexity of any deal to form a government, even the official rules aren't clear, according to Akash Paun from the NewsStatesmen. 

In fact, the UK could be without a new government for up to six weeks according to the Independent's Oliver Wright. 

LISTEN: ED MILIBAND AND RUSSELL BRAND. MILIBRAND.

My take on Ed and Russell.

Listen here.

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

ED MILIBAND, RUSSELL BRAND, GLOTTAL STOPS AND STEVE MCCLAREN

Ed Miliband's attempts to reach a wide audience by talking to Russell Brand look set to succeed if youtube hits are anything to go by - the trailer for the interview has been viewed over 200 000 times already. As Sophy Ridge points out, there's a lot more clicking on that video going on, than on Labour's most recent party political broadcast.

Whether what Ed Miliband says appeals to enough of Russell Brand's audience to make a difference is, of course, another matter.

He's certainly trying to speak their language.



And by that I mean he actually sounds as if he is trying to speak a different language. A language full of glottal stops. 'First of all you go'a do i' internationally' innit bruv.

There's something of the Steve McClaren about it.




Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

Social Media and the #GE2015

By Natalie Powell

The UK's 2015 General Election will be the most digital election to date and social media is playing a key role.

In the last two months, more UK political content has been shared online than during the entire 2010 election campaign.

Marcus Beard, Political Analyst at Brandwatch, says the way social media is being used by politicians has changed since the last UK election.

The fact that social media is instant means politicians are being more careful about what they do and don't do in public.

Social media is also being used to monitor and measure public sentiment in the run up to this election, but experts believe the results from digital outlets may not be completely accurate come May 7th. Here's Marcus Beard at Brandwatch again:

PARTY SURGES INTO THREE POINT LEAD

According to the latest Guardian / ICM poll, the Conservatives have moved up to 35% with Labour lagging behind on 32.

Hold on just a second though, because the latest Populus numbers have Labour leading on 36% and the Tories on 33%.

So we're still neck and neck, then.

One interesting feature of the Guardian / ICM poll is a look at the single issue that most concerns voters.



Labour leader Ed Miliband will be pleased to read that the NHS is still at the top, by a country mile.



But he will be less happy to read that the 'Fears of smaller parties holding govt to ransom' is rising as a concern for voters - that's exactly what the Conservatives have been hoping would happen.



However, he's looking pretty confident and relaxed on the campaign trail. Perhaps because he has a potential second career as a bus driver if things go wrong at the ballot box.

David Cameron is looking less relaxed - clearly because he'll know many in his own party are concerned he's been looking too relaxed up to now.

The Prime Minister wants it to be very clear that he definitely does want to be Prime Minister again and is prepared to use minor obscenities to get that message across. Obviously I can't put the video of him describing himself as 'blo*dy lively' on this family-friendly blog.


There speaks (shouts) a man who knows, as we do, that his party is either three points ahead or behind according to the latest polling.

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

FOREIGN POLICY ARRIVES (FINALLY) ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

13 days before Britain votes in a General Election, foreign policy appears to have arrived for the first time on the agenda.

Labour leader Ed Miliband is using a major speech to apportion some of the blame for the current migrant crisis in the Mediterranean to Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr Miliband insists the failure to plan for post-intervention Libya has contributed directly to events unfolding in the Mediterranean sea.

This marks a significant development in an election campaign which had seen very little discussion of foreign policy up to now. It's also a significant and direct attack on the Prime Minister which is raising temperatures on both sides.

Rosa Prince of the Telegraph has told LBC it's a risky move - listen here.

And Fraser Nelson of the Spectator believes Mr Miliband is playing a dangerous game too.

But Ian Dunt of politics.co.uk believes Mr Miliband is right to suggest Mr Cameron's policies have played a role in the situation off Libya - read his thoughts here.

However, despite the lack of discussion of it on the campaign trail so far - this is actually an election that has a number of interesting potential effects on UK foreign policy.

Dan Whitehead has been exploring that for us, particularly with regards to the Middle East.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, however, of Ed Miliband's views on Libya - as an international news agency reporting for news channels and broadcasters around the world, we're thrilled foreign policy is finally at the centre of this election campaign.

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

UK 2015 - PARALLELS WITH 1974. WILL WE SEE A MINORITY GOVERNMENT?

Polls continue to suggest the Conservatives and Labour remain neck and neck ahead of May 7th's UK General election, and that whoever 'wins' may even find it difficult to put together a coalition government.

Which is why it's useful to look back to 1974 - the last time Britain had a minority government.

In the February election of that year the Labour Party won the most seats (despite not winning the most votes) and leader Harold Wilson ended up forming a minority government.

Here he is on election night (6 minutes in) as results came in, smoking a pipe on television, and ruling out forming a coalition.



The parallels don't end there.

It was also a night on which the nationalists the SNP performed well in Scotland - although this time around it's predicted they'll fare even better. Far better.

And there's voter apathy too - a distrust of the major political parties (4.10 in).





But the BBC coverage is also worth watching just because, well, it's brilliant. You'll see names like Magnus Magnusson, Sue Lawley, Richard Dimbleby, Esther Rantzen, Martin Bell, Alastair Burnet and Robin Day.



And you'll marvel at how - graphics and wizzes and pops and swooshes and virtual reality aside - so little has changed in election night coverage.

Back to the politics though, and how long did the minority government last? Until October, when the country went back to the polls and the BBC went back to its election studio.






Although in 2015, due to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act brought in after 2010's hung Parliament, calling a second election this year would be more complicated than it was in 1974.

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

UNPREDICTABLE UK ELECTION HARMS BRITISH POUND

Following on from my post about what a coalition, or Labour Party deal, involving the SNP might mean for pound sterling, I've taken a broader look for eNCA at the effects an unpredictable election is already having on the pound.

You can watch my report here.

Meanwhile, Westminster is looking glorious in the sunshine. It's almost as if the Palace is happy to see the back of MPs for a while as they hit the campaign trail.

Back at our second home for the next three weeks for more #GE2015 filming. #london #westminster #bigben #londoneye #parliament

A photo posted by Olly Barratt (@ollybarratt) on Apr 20, 2015 at 3:10am PDT

Olly Barratt - UK correspondent

WHAT WOULD A LABOUR + SNP COALITION MEAN FOR THE UK ECONOMY?

The Scottish Nationalists, the SNP, are campaigning fiercely against the Labour Party in Scotland - and may well take a boatload of Westminster seats off them in May 7th's vote.

But when it comes to forming a government in London, the SNP is now loudly and publicly calling for a Westminster coalition to keep David Cameron out of Downing Street.

We saw SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon making this very clear in Thursday's debate.






Ed may be rejecting the idea of a coalition with SNP now but he may need them come May 8th if he can't form a majority government without them.

But given that the SNP describes itself as "a social democratic political party committed to Scottish independence", what might it mean for the UK economy and the British Pound to have a party in coalition at Westminster whose own goal is to break the United Kingdom apart?

I've been talking to the excellent Jeremy Cook of World First about that eventuality.

 

 

 

 

Of course, there's also the possibility of a 'confidence and supply' arrangement between Labour and the SNP (or other parties) rather than full coalition.

Here's how that might work.

It might not though. Who's got money on there being two general elections in the UK in 2015?

Olly Barratt - FSN UK correspondent

ANGER ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron wants us to be in no doubt that he is angry with Ed Balls. Really angry.

Ed Balls dismissing the note Labour left Britain as a "joke" is a disgrace. My video: https://t.co/WO0I9ZwJsF
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 16, 2015

Big Dave's been angry before though - on one notable occasion with the European Union over a bill he absolutely was not going to pay, but actually, as it turns out, will have to pay.




It's also just possible the Prime Minister is hoping someone sets his latest public display of anger to music, as happened when he responded to a Russian dismissal of Britain as simply a 'small island'.

 


Whether anger on the campaign trail works is another matter entirely. David Cameron knows that passion will play well with voters, but his advisers will want to avoid him seeming to sneer or come across as a 'school bully'.

We know that a flash of anger is not always disastrous - Labour's John Prescott once punched a member of the public during an election campaign and still got elected.




Of course, election campaigns do require a certain toughness.





Let's keep it clean, though.




Olly Barratt - FSN UK correspondent

UK ELECTION: HOW CLOSE IS IT REALLY?

Akash Paun of the Institute for Government joined Channel News Asia from FSN Live's London studio for a discussion on the closeness of the UK General Election. Ian Dunt from politics.co.uk also joined the debate.

Will the election signal a permanent end to single-party majority rule at Westminster? And will Asian and other ethnic minority voting blocs make a significant impact?

Clegg warns voters to consider who will hold balance of power as he launches Lib Dem manifesto

By Catherine Drew @drewc2u

The election manifestos keep coming and Wednesday it was the turn of the Liberal Democrats who until recently were the junior partners in the coalition government. 

Credit: Liberal Democrats

Leader Nick Clegg chose what appeared to be a rave/nightclub setting (to attract the youth?) to unveil his election promises.  A pledge of an additional 2.5 billion pounds for schools in England was overshadowed by his warning that no party was likely to win a majority government and that voters would have to chose who holds the balance of power from among the smaller parties, including the Scottish National Party and right-wing anti-Europe UKIP.  The nightclub vibe clashed somewhat with the "Game of Thrones" style rhetoric.

"So ask yourself this, do you want Nigel Farage walking through the door of Number 10, do you want Alex Salmond sat at the cabinet table or do you want the Liberal Democrats" he said. "The Liberal Democrats will add a heart to a Conservative government and a brain to a Labour one."

This last line got a laugh.  Nick Clegg appeared jovial and relaxed which is strange considering his predicament.  He used the manifesto launch to defend going into power with the Conservatives, something that was unthinkable before the 2010 election and which lost the Liberal Democrats many core supporters. 

"We did the responsible thing, we did the fair thing, we did the gutsy thing.  We stepped up to the plate and put the country first even though it meant working with people we disagreed with," he said.  

Getting into bed with the Tories and going back on an election promise not to vote for a rise in university tuition fees have cost the party dear.  Current opinion polls suggest the Lib Dems will go from 57 MPs they held after the 2010 election to around 19 following the May 7th vote.   Clegg's own seat of Sheffield Hallam is in danger of going to his Labour opponent. 

The other prominent Lib Dem in the coalition, Danny Alexander, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, could lose his seat in Scotland to the Scottish National Party candidate. 

Credit: Liberal Democrats

Clegg's message that voters must consider who holds the balance of power is a valid one, as the chances of a hung parliament are high.   It's just not clear if he, or Danny Alexander, will be available if and when those phone calls are made. 

To read the manifesto, click here

WATCH: William Hague on Conservative coalition talks #GE2015

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

Former Foreign Secretary and Conservative party leader William Hague was at the Foreign Press Association on Wednesday (15/4), taking questions on #GE2015.

I asked him in the clip above whether the Conservatives are in any talks with other parties on having to form a coalition if the result swings that way. He also spoke about whether manifestos are worth the paper they are written on.

The Conservatives launch their manifesto amid promises of a "good life" for all

Tuesday and it was the turn of the Conservatives to launch their election manifesto, with promises for a "good life"' for all under a future Tory government.  

Prime Minister David Cameron took to the podium to claim the Conservatives are the party of working people, while he pledged to finish the job of getting the country's economy back on track. 

Credit The Conservative Party

He also promised a future Conservative government would eliminate Britain's deficit within the next parliament and showcased a new policy giving social housing tenants the right-to-buy their homes at a discounted price.  

This is an echo of a popular Conservative scheme of the 1980's under then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  Some social housing analysts blame the policy for depleting the country's social housing stock for generations.  To counter this inevitable criticism, Mr Cameron said hundreds of thousands of new homes  would be built to ease the country's fierce demand for housing in many urban areas. 

This has not convinced the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies which said this and other spending commitments had implications for the Conservative's plan to eliminate the deficit in day-to-day spending by 2017-18.   

Other election pledges include extra funding for the National Health Service, additional hours of free childcare and legislation to keep people working 30 hours on minimum wage out of the tax system. 

The claim to be the party for working people is a clear bid for voters who traditionally support Labour.   On Monday, Labour's leader Ed Miliband claimed to be the party of economic responsibility, in a bid for voters who trust the Conservatives with the country's purse.  

On the Conservative manifesto Ed Miliband said the party had "no idea" how the right-to-buy and the other spending commitments would be funded.

With just over three weeks to go before the election, and the parties still neck and neck in the opinion polls, both parties appear to be attempting to rebrand themselves.   Their success or otherwise will be seen after the May 7th vote. 

South Africans in UK prepare for General Election

Britain's General Election has a truly international feel at times. The UK's diverse population means there are hundreds of thousands of voters not originally from Britain who are eligible to vote on May 7th.

Our Dan Whitehead filed this report for SABC News on the South African expats preparing to head to the polls.

Manifesto week: Labour's "Budget Responsibility Lock" #GE2015

Pic credit: Labour Party

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

It is manifesto week. First up, Labour leader Ed Miliband revealed his party's list of pledges with a little over three weeks until polls open.

The full manifesto is here, but the highlights include:

• Scraping zero-hours contracts
• Scrapping nom-dom tax status
• Freezing energy bills
• Freezing rail fares for 2016
• Reducing university tuition fees to £6000 per year
• Raising minimum wage to £8+ per hour
• Pledges to not increase basic or higher rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT

Central to Labour's manifesto is a "budget responsibility lock", a promise that any commitments made would require no additional borrowing. Ed Miliband was at pains to point out his "triple lock" budget in contrast to what he sees as gaps in how the Conservative's would pay for plans to increase NHS spending and increase the 40% tax threshold and tax-free threshold.

Labour's "Lock" made page number 1 of the manifesto. Clearly an attempt to demonstrate how series Ed Miliband is on the economy and repair Labour's credibility over the issue. It's a point repeatedly attacked by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Many will not forget when he "forgot" to mention it in his speech at the Labour Party conference last year. 

All parties have repeatedly broken promises made in manifestos, so will people believe them this time round, or even take a glance at them? With a hung parliament on the cards, manifesto pledges could mean very little indeed once a coalition is formed and compromises need to be made. Matt Dathan writes an interesting take on whether manifestos are worth the paper they're written on for the Independent.

Tuesday will see David Cameron launch the Conservative's manifesto, with the Green Party, Lib Dems and UKIP publishing theirs on Wednesday. 

UK GENERAL ELECTION - THE BIG PICTURE

FSN's Dan Whitehead has this preview for SABC News, including some of the latest betting from Matthew Shaddick of Ladbrokes.

The Trident Debate

By Natalie Powell @NatalieDPowell

With less than a month to go to the UK's General Election, British Defence has found itself the focus of debate.

The UK Trident nuclear programme is at the heart of election clashes, with the Conservative party accusing the opposition Labour party of putting the country's nuclear deterrent at risk.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned that a Labour Government would enter into a deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP), which would see the scrapping of the Trident programme in return for the SNP's support.

Mr Fallon hit out at Labour's leader with personal remarks in an interview with the Times newspaper saying: "Ed Miliband stabbed his own brother in the back to become Labour leader. Now he is willing to stab the United Kingdom in the back to become prime minister."

The leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon has offered to help Labour's Ed Miliband become the next prime minister by entering a coalition government with his party. However during a televised debate on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said that Trident was a red line and under no circumstances would the SNP support it.

Labour meanwhile has hit back at the Conservative party's comments, accusing Mr Fallon of 'mud-slinging' and saying Prime Minister David Cameron's campaign was based on 'deceit and lies'.

Ed Miliband insisted that Labour remained committed to continuing the Trident programme, by building new submarines to replace the ageing fleet which carry the nuclear missiles.

He has suggested the possibility or reducing their number from four to three, but said Labour's position at the moment was to stick with four.

UK General Election Odds

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

WATCH: Matthew Shaddick from Ladbrokes gave us the latests #GE2015 odds (correct on 8/4/15):

Blair enters the election fight

By Catherine Drew, @drewc2u

 

The Guardian newspaper described him as being like an embarrassing aging relative  that only gets invited to the wedding to avoid awkward questions about why he wasn't there. 

Is Tony Blair, three times victor in general elections (1997, 2001, 2005) really so toxic that the current Labour leader, PM hopeful Ed Miliband, doesn't appear keen to share a stage with him?   

Nevertheless Blair has been wheeled out after what must have been a fierce debate within the Labour leadership. Imagine the exchange...."He still has clout, he can argue the tricky case against an EU membership referendum" may have been answered by "Yes but many people consider him a war criminal."   

If you doubt that latter sentiment, I refer you to Twitter.  

 

 

Listening to Blair, I was reminded how persuasive a politician he is. “Leaving Europe would leave Britain diminished and go against the qualities that mark us out as a great global nation” he said.  

You don't get the chance to hear him often.  Since his retirement in 2007, neither Gordon Brown or Ed Miliband have sought him out.  Indeed Ed Miliband has taken the Labour party to the left in a bid to win back traditional voters and move the party on from so called Blairism and what was called "New Labour" back in the late 1990s.  

But today a relaxed-looking Tony Blair gave Ed Miliband his "100 per cent" backing and praised him as "his own man".  Some will see this as a warm endorsement after previous disagreements, while to others, it could be a poisoned chalice. 

So is he the embarrassing relative, or is he the wise elder statesman?

No winners, no losers: UK Leaders' Debate

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

There were predictions of a bear-pit atmosphere: seven party leaders fighting for air-time. But Thursday night's Leaders' Debate on ITV ended up being a far tamer affair.

There was the odd bit of liveliness, but in general, no one threw or took any sucker punches and no political camp with be dealing with a PR disaster tonight. 

This level-pegged result was reflected in the mish-mash of opinion polls released shortly after, all showing a different 'winner':

YouGov: Nicola Sturgeon

ComRes: Cameron-Miliband-Farage tie
ICM: Ed Miliband

The four questions asked by audience members were on the NHS, immigration, the deficit and a rather too broad: issues for younger generations. 

Despite this being the only debate involving both PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband, two further 'events' on TV will take place later this month. 

The leaders of Labour, UKIP, the SNP, the Greens and Plaid Cymru will debate on the BBC on April 16th. On April 30th, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband will appear - separately - on a special edition of BBC Question Time. 

For now, it's back on the campaign road, with five weeks left before polling day - a lifetime in politics. 

Debate Predictions

By Natalie Powell @NatalieDPowell

With just over an hour to go, the leaders of 7 political parties are preparing for the first and only live televised debate of the general election campaign. 

Conservative leader,  Prime Minister David Cameron will come face to face with his rival for the top job, Labour's Ed Miliband in the two hour debate.   However they will be joined by five other candidates...including the leaders of smaller parties like the Greens and regional parties from Wales and Scotland. 

Politics.co.uk's Parliamentary Editor, Alex Stevenson, gives his predictions about what the debate might look like.

It has taken weeks of negotiation for Prime Minister David Cameron to agree on a debate format, Alex Stevenson explains one of the possible reasons behind why the Prime Minister preferred to appear in a seven-way debate.

Personality V Policy - UK General Election 2015

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

Professor Simon Hix from LSE told FSN that tonight's debate is as much about personality as it is policy for PM David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband:

TV leaders debates could make or break campaigns

By Dan Whitehead, @danwnews

On Thursday 2nd April, seven UK political leaders, including the Prime Minister David Cameron, will go head to head in a televised debate.

It has taken months of negotiations to lock down, with long-running arguments between parties and broadcasters over who would be invited and, just as crucially, exactly when the debates would take place (before or after party manifestos were launched).

Broadcasters got far from what they had initially asked for: an actual face to face debate between David Cameron and opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband never materialised, instead a Q&A with both was broadcast last week.

But on Thursday night, a 2-hour live debate will be broadcast on ITV. David Cameron (Conservative), Ed Miliband (Labour), Nick Clegg (Lib Dems), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Natalie Bennett (Green) and Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) will go head to head.

The leaders will not be told the four "substantial election questions" in advance and each will get one minute to answer uninterrupted (we'll see) - before 17 to 18 minutes of "moderated" debate on each topic.

ITV says around 80% of the around 200-strong audience will be made up of voters who express a voting intention (at the time of recruitment) and around 20% of the audience will be “undecided”.

For the politicians, these debates can make or break an election campaign. "Cleggmania" erupted for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg last time round and he ended up in a coalition government as the Deputy PM. However, he admitted in a Telegraph interview on Tuesday that he will "not triumph" this time round.

With seven leaders all vying for limited air-time, the pressure will be on all participants to do enough to persuade voters in the studio and across the country. 

Two further shows of differing formats will take place on the BBC on the 16th and 30th of April.