Sunak and Starmer’s first TV debate: a tetchy PMQs where no one dared mention the F-word

By Mark Garnett, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Lancaster University

As it turned out, after stealing the limelight on the day, the man most notable by his absence at the first leaders’ TV debate of the 2024 election campaign was never even mentioned by name. Only in his closing statement did the prime minister find it necessary to aim an indirect blow at Nigel Farage, telling his ITV audience that a vote for any party other than the Conservatives would amount to a vote for Labour.

Since their inception in 2010, these encounters on live TV have become familiar fixtures of the electoral ordeal, for leaders, advisers and viewers alike. They remain highly…

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