May and Corbyn to face live TV audience in ‘Battle for Number 10’

“The Battle For Number 10” – to be broadcast on Sky News and Channel 4 – will see the two leaders field questions from voters, moderated by Sky’s political editor Faisal Islam.

Then both leaders will be questioned, one-on-one, by veteran TV interviewer Jeremy Paxman.

Questions for the Prime Minister are likely to focus on the party’s manifesto mess over social care, her hard-line stance on Brexit and whether cuts to front-line services have made the UK less safe.

Mr Corbyn could be asked about meetings with IRA sympathisers, the cost of Labour’s manifesto commitments and his leadership credentials.

The studio audience has been selected for balance.

A similar format was used in 2015’s election when Ed Miliband and David Cameron faced the dual challenge, with tough questions and memorable answers.

The then Labour leader was asked whether he had the experience and weight to lead the country.

“Am I tough enough? Hell yes, I am tough enough,” he shot back.

The studio audience in last year’s EU Referendum debates also tested the smooth patter of Theresa May’s predecessor.

Student Soraya Bouazzaoui put Mr Cameron on the spot when she accused him of relying on fear to win support for remaining in the EU.

“The entire campaign has been a complete shambles: I see nothing but scaremongering. Everything I’ve seen has just made voting into the EU look worse,” she said.

When he tried to reply, she countered: “I’m an English literature student, I know waffling when I see it.”

Ayesha Hazarika helped prepare Mr Miliband for the 2015 encounter and argues that TV debates, which started in 2010 after a campaign led by Sky News, are significant for the election process.

“I think they are becoming increasingly important. Most people are so busy with their day-to-day lives, they are not eating and breathing politics in the same way we political commentators are.

“They often want something that just gives them an easy snapshot of what the leaders and the parties have to offer and I think that’s where the televised debates are coming into their own,” she told Sky News.  – news.sky.com