General election TV debate LIVE: Rishi Sunak edges Keir Starmer in first public poll as leaders slug it out on immigration, taxes and national service – latest updates and reaction

We’ve now had some reaction from the Labour and Conservative camps following the ITV debate.

Speaking after the debate shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth accuses ‘tetchy’ Rishi Sunak of speaking over Sir Keir.

When MailOnline asks him about the times the Labour leader spoke over the PM he branded it a ‘strong performance’.

He also brands the Tory claim that Labour would up taxes by £2,000 as ‘garbage’

For the Conservatives, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins accuses Sir Keir of making up policy ‘on the air’.

Michael Gove says that Labour is mired in ‘confusion, despondency and disarray’ after Rishi Sunak’s performance.

Asked about the threat from Reform UK he labels them ‘just a branch of the Labour Party.’

In his closing statement, Rishi Sunak appealed to voters wavering between the Tories and Reform UK.

Either Kier Starmer or I will be your prime minister and a vote for anyone else makes it more likely that it will be him.

He also told voters “you don’t know what you’d get” if they chose Labour.

We’ve heard a lot about change from him but change to what? Keir Starmer is asking you to hand him a blank check when he hasn’t said what he’ll buy with it, or how much it’s going to cost you.

In uncertain times we simply cannot afford an uncertain prime minister.

Rishi Sunak said he discussed whether he or Gareth Southgate ‘had the worst job in Britain’ when he met with the England football manager.

In the final question of the debate, Mr Sunak and Keir Starmer, described by ITV host Julie Etchingham as football fans, were asked what advice they would give to the England manager with the Euros starting in 10 days time.

Not to give advice to Gareth Southgate who, when I met him, we did discuss who had the worst job in Britain in terms of other people giving you their opinions, but as I say you need to have a clear plan and you need to take bold action, because you don’t do anything without those things.

Also asked what advice he would give Southgate on leadership prior to the European Championship, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said:

Game plan, good squad – and he’s got both of those – I really think we’re going to do really well this year, we’ve got a fantastic team.

He’s very, very good at this, and he’s built a squad, just like I’ve got a brilliant shadow cabinet.

The public have had their say on tonight’s debate and the winner is Rishi Sunak.

YouGov polling shows 51% of people thought Rishi Sunak performed best overall in tonight’s live debate, with 49% voting for Keir Starmer.

Sir Keir Starmer said that re-electing the Tories would be like seeing ‘the arsonists handed back the matches’.

In his closing statement at the ITV debate, the Labour leader said:

I don’t offer you the gimmicks or unfunded promises that Rishi Sunak does.

I don’t pretend there’s a magic wand that will fix everything overnight. Instead, I offer a practical common sense plan to change Britain.”

Imagine how you would feel waking up on July 5 to five more years of the Conservatives. Five more years of decline and division. The arsonists handed back the matches.

Now imagine turning the page with a Labour government that rolls up its sleeves and gets on with the job that puts the country back in your service.

Rishi Sunak is mocked by the audience as he talks up his plan to reintroduce national service.

Asked what policies they had for young people, Sir Keir told the ITV debate it was important to have further education opportunities and the chance to get on the property ladder.

What I won’t be doing is sending you on national service, some sort of ‘teenage Dad’s Army’, which would be what the Prime Minister would say.

There was laughter from the audience as the Prime Minister said the national service would be “transformational for young people in our country, giving them the skills and opportunity they need to succeed in life”.

He said the scheme would be ‘incredibly positive’, adding all Sir Keir could do was ‘sneer at it’.

Rishi Sunak confirms he is willing to take the UK out of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights if required to deal with the migrant crisis.

If I am forced to choose between our national security and … a foreign court I am going to choose national security every time.

He then repeats the comment almost verbatim a second time.

The move is controversial and is opposed by a lot of senior Tories on the moderate wing of the party.

The only European nations that do not currently accept the jurisdiction of the ECHR are Russia and Belarus, and leaving would undermine the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland.

A rare moment…agreement!

Asked whether they could work with Donald Trump in the event he is elected US president both leaders say they can.

If he’s elected president of the US, then we will deal with him.

The special relationship transcends whoever fills the post of prime minister and president because it’s such an important strong relationship.

Yes, because having a strong relationship with our closest partner and ally in the United States is critical for keeping everyone in our country safe.

The tone of the debate has noticeably changed after a question about the conflict in Gaza is raised.

Keir Starmer says an immediate ceasefire is needed while Mr Sunak says he hopes a deal put forward by the US is reached.

The question then turns to national security and hostilities soon resume.

Asked if Sir Keir Starmer could be trusted with the UK’s national security, Rishi Sunak said:

I don’t think the Labour Party can be trusted to keep this country as safe as the Conservatives. The world is a more dangerous and uncertain place since the end of the Cold War.

I’ve made the decision to invest more in our defence, taking it up to 2.5% of GDP, the Labour Party have not matched that and, worse than that, the person who would be deputy prime minister under Keir Starmer does not believe in our nuclear deterrent.

The Labour leader could be heard repeating “shocking” in response to this statement, adding:

This is shocking. Before I was a politician I was the director of public prosecutions, I was working on national security, I was dealing with terrorist plots.

Mr Sunak accused Sir Keir of working for ‘extremists like Abu Qatada and Hizb ut-Tahrir’, with Sir Keir calling the Prime Minister’s response ‘desperate’.

After the break and host Julie Etchingham asks both leaders to stop speaking over one another after frequent interruptions.

The leaders are asked a question on immigration.

There’s an immediate clash as Rishi Sunak says a Labour government would block the Rwanda deportation flights.

The flights will go in July, but only if i am the prime minister

If Keir Starmer is PM those people will be released … they will be out on the streets.

Host Julie Etchinham has to interrupt him as he asks the Labour leader: ‘What are you going to do?’

He kept a promise (to cut illegal immigration) and he’s completely failed to keep it.

He also accused Rishi Sunak of being ‘the most liberal prime minister we’ve ever had on immigration.’

Rishi Sunak said he would use private health care if he had a loved-one on a long waiting list for surgery, while Sir Keir Starmer said he would not.

Asked the question, the Labour leader said:

I don’t use private health. I use the NHS. That’s where my wife works, in one of the big hospitals; as I said it runs through my DNA.

Rishi Sunak was applauded when he said he would not give junior doctors a 35% pay rise.

A heated exchange followed between the leaders when the Prime Minister challenged Sir Keir Starmer to say how he would resolve the long-running dispute.

There’s only two ways forward: one is a continuing strike, which is what we’ve had for a very, very long time – we’re now four-and-a-half weeks from election. He’s going to kick it into the long grass.

Or you get grown up, you go in the room and you resolve this. That does not mean you agree with the 35%, we can’t afford that.

Asked if social care would be fully funded in their respective manifestos, Rishi Sunak said:

We have already given social care an extra £8 billion, because pressures are immediate, and the pilot reforms are there for charging.

We will have a plan for social care and, like everything else in our manifesto, it will be fully costed and fully funded. It starts with the workforce.

Sir Keir Starmer drew a laugh from the audience when he mocked Rishi Sunak over his claim that NHS waiting lists are coming down.

Asked how long it would take to fix the “broken” health service, the Prime Minister pointed to the damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic, acknowledged it would take time to recover “but we are now making progress: waiting lists are coming down”.

There was laughter when the Labour leader countered:

They were 7.2 million, they’re now 7.5 million. He says they are coming down and this is the guy who says he’s good at maths.

Mr Sunak then blamed industrial action, eliciting groans from the audience of the ITV debate.

‘It’s somebody else’s fault,’ Sir Keir said.

Rishi Sunak said people should judge him by his actions during the pandemic.

Every week when I’m out and about, someone comes up to me and tells me how furlough saved their family, saved their home, because that’s who I am

As ITV host Julie Etchingham tried to get him to finish his answer, Mr Sunak said he wanted to cut taxes while Labour wanted to put them up.

Sir Keir Starmer suggested the wealthy Prime Minister did not understand the plight facing hard-pressed households.

Referring to his own childhood, he said:

I do know the anguish of worrying, when the postman comes with a bill, what is that bill going to be, can I pay it?

I don’t think the Prime Minister quite understands the position that you and other people are in.

Sir Keir Starmer claimed Rishi Sunak called a snap vote because energy prices will rise.

He says the plan is working, so the question for him is why has he called the election now?

Because if he thinks things are going to get better towards the second half of this year, why has he called it now? He’s called it now because he knows, and I’ll ask him this, he knows inflation is going to go back up, he knows energy prices are going to go back up in the autumn.

That’s what he’s not telling you. So he says the plan is working, but I don’t think he believes the plan is working, because if he thought the plan is working he wouldn’t have called this election right now.

The Prime Minister replied:

I think it’s slightly ironic, because from the moment I got this job, Keir Starmer was telling me call an election, call an election, now we’ve called an election now he’s saying well no don’t have an election because I don’t want to tell you what I’m going to do.

Keir Starmer has branded Rishi Sunak ‘the British expert of tax rises’ as they clashed over tax rates.

The PM hit back with the Tory claim that Labour would put up taxes by £2,000 for every family.

Referencing audience member Paula who was struggling to pay her bills, the PM asked the Labour leader:

If people are struggling with their bills, why do you want to increase the amount they pay in tax … you name it, Labour will tax it.

Rishi Sunak insisted voters are just ‘starting to see the benefits’ of his economic measures when challenged by an audience member over the cost-of-living crisis.

The first question to the leaders came from a woman from Huddersfield saying she is struggling to make ends meet and ‘genuinely worried about my future’.

The Prime Minister told her:

I know how much of a strain the last few years have put on your family finances, adding. That’s why my priority has always been to do what I can to support you.

He pointed to the furlough scheme, efforts to bring down inflation and said ‘now our economy is growing again’.

I know you’re only just starting to see the benefits of that.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said ‘this Government has lost control’ and that ‘it’s people like you that are paying the price’.

He highlighted that former PM Liz Truss ‘crashed the economy’ and will stand as a Conservative candidate in the election.

Mr Sunak led off saying that ‘uncertain times call for a clear plan and bold ideas’.

In five weeks time, either Keir Starmer or I will be prime minister, he added. Beyond raising your taxes and raiding your pensions, no one know what he will do … I have a clear plan for a more secure future for you and your family.

Labour leader kicks off the debate with his opening statement.

He reiterates he has changed the Labour party while Mr Sunak promises he will cut taxes and reduce immigration.

David Wilcock has the final word from the spin room as rival camps finish their warm-ups ahead of the debate with some final attacks.

The public will get to see that it’s only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives who have a clear plan and will take the bold action needed to deliver a secure future for our country.

We don’t know what the public will get to see from Keir Starmer, it depends which version of himself he chooses to bring to the debate.

But we do know that tonight will expose the Labour party’s complete absence of any new ideas, any principles and ultimately, that they do not have a plan.

Handing Labour the keys to No10 would hit every working family with a £2,094 tax bill, punish pensioners with the Retirement Tax, bring in an amnesty for illegal immigrants and take our country back to square one.

Labour’s Pat McFadden said:

The choice at this election is simple: Five more years of chaos with the Conservatives or change with the Labour Party.

On July 4 the British people will have the chance to vote for change. To stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.

Tonight, the British people will have a chance to see the choice first-hand. Between a desperate Rishi Sunak who’s scatter-gunned approach has shredded his economic credibility. Or Keir Starmer who has changed the Labour Party and is offering a credible plan to change Britain.’

James Tapsfield reports the Prime Minister and Sir Keir Starmer were all smiles as they arrived at the ITV studios in Manchester ahead of the 9pm kick-off.

Stick the kettle on and get yourself comfortable, the leaders debate is almost here.

Stay with us on our blog as we guide you through the next hour plus analysis and reaction afterwards.

The Prime Minister has snuck in a final message to his social media followers before he debates Keir Starmer live on ITV.

He has posted a brief video clip of a giant piggy bank floating in the sky with a message to voters tio start saving if Labour win the election.

Our political editor James Tapsfield reports some Tories have been venting frustration that Mr Sunak had not acted to head off the threat from Mr Farage.

One former minister told MailOnline the Brexit champion should ‘absolutely’ have been given a peerage before. ‘It was stupid and churlish not to,’ they said.

Another MP told MailOnline they wanted Mr Sunak to emulate Nick Clegg, who handed the Lib Dem campaign a huge boost with his debate performance in 2010. But the former Cabinet minister said they were not optimistic he would succeed: ‘It’s difficult and I just don’t know… we can but hope.’

Other senior Conservatives suggested Mr Sunak will need to ‘hit Starmer hard’ on issues such as the Rwanda deportations plan.

‘Starmer is hardly very light on his feet. I think the stand for nothing charge might resonate,’ one said. But they admitted that the gap in the polls meant the premier needed a ‘miracle’.

We can now bring you footage of the moment the Prime Minister arrived at the ITV studio to debate Keir Starmer on what could potentially be a huge night for his election hopes and ultimately his premiership.

Not long now…in around 20 minutes we will be under way.

We really want to hear from you before, during and after tonight’s debate so please join in the conversation in our comments section and we’ll try and do a readers round-up when we can.

Here’s some we picked out earlier:

I hope the discussion is substantial instead of it becoming a slanging match. What the people want to know is how their lives will change as a result of the election.

Do these political debates actually achieve anything worthwhile,Starmer and Sunak will say many things to ger people to support their parties, but nothing actually gets done.

What chance has this country got with either person and their party. Successive years of poor management and greed have led to the downfall of the UK. I feel sorry for the young generation.

I either be watching paint dry or making love to my missus. Both a lot more interesting than watching two useless politicians try & sell themselves to the public.

I’d be bothered to watch if they added Nigel Farage.

Tonight’s debate is likely to see plenty of personal attacks from both the PM and Sir Keir.

Mr Sunak will seek to portray the Labour leader as a ‘left lawyer’ who would undermine Britain’s economic and national security.

He could also use the Tory moniker of ‘Sir Flip-Flop’ for the Labour leader, after Sir Keir ditched many of the pledges he ran for his party’s leadership on.

The PM will be expected to make frequent references to Sir Keir’s past membership of Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

But the Labour leader will also try to link Mr Sunak to his immediate predecessor, by focusing on the ‘chaos’ of Ms Truss’s spell in No10.

Overall, Sir Keir is likely to ask voters whether they feel better off after 14 years of Conservative rule.

The PM will push his Rwanda plan as the best way to solve the Channel migrant crisis by providing a deterrent to those thinking of making the perilous journey on a small boat.

He will also promote his newly-unveiled pledge to introduce a cap on worker and family visas in a bid to ensure legal migration figures fall year on year.

The proposed plan would give Parliament a direct role in setting levels of migration, with MPs having a vote on the number.

Mr Sunak is also likely to attack Sir Keir’s support for remaining in the EU, which would have seen Britain keep free movement rules.

Sir Keir has branded the Rwanda plan a ‘gimmick’ and pointed to the cost to taxpayers of a scheme that has yet to see a single migrant deported to the African country.

Labour’s plan is to establish a new Border Security Command to crackdown on people-smuggling gangs who charge extortionate fees to take migrants across the Channel.

The PM will put pressure on the Labour leader to match his pledge to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030.

Mr Sunak is also likely to make frequent references to Sir Keir’s support for ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was sceptical of NATO and opposed nuclear weapons.

The PM used a recent speech to warn voters ‘your family and our country are all at risk if Labour win’.

Labour have committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on the military ‘as soon as we can’ but not put a date on when they hope to achieve that target.

Sir Keir has attempted to beef up his credentials on national security by recently making a ‘triple lock’ pledge on Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

This saw him commit to continuing to build four new nuclear submarines, maintaining Britain’s at-sea deterrent, and delivering all future upgrades for submarine patrols.

Mr Sunak will face a tricky ride on the state of the health service after admitting earlier this year that he had failed on a pledge to cut NHS waiting lists in England.

But the PM is likely to argue that waiting lists were moving in the right direction before the impact of strike action by NHS staff.

Mr Sunak recently unveiled plans to boost community care with 100 new GP surgeries and 50 community diagnostic centres to be built were he to remain PM.

Sir Keir will also make personal reference to the NHS, where his wife works in occupational health.

Labour have promised to clear waits of more than 18 weeks within five years of taking office as part of their efforts to clear hospital backlogs.

They are pledging 40,000 extra appointments, scans, and operations a week during evenings and weekends, and to use spare capacity in private hospitals.

The PM is likely to repeat his message that ‘the plan is working’ as he will remind voters of his efforts to bring down inflation amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Sunak has warned that Labour would take Britain back to ‘square one’ if they win power and warn voters not to put the UK’s economic recovery at risk.

He has claimed Sir Keir would be forced to increase taxes if he reaches No10, in order to fill a £38.5 billion ‘blackhole’ in Labour’s spending plans.

But Sir Keir is likely to hit back that pensioners – and other Brits – are only facing larger tax bills due to Mr Sunak’s decision to freeze income tax thresholds.

The Labour leader will be keen to point out the UK’s tax burden is at its highest for more than 70 years.

Overall, Sir Keir will hope to portray Labour as a fiscally responsible party compared to the ‘chaos’ of 14 years of Conservative rule.

Let’s take a look at the subjects we believe will arise in the debate tonight starting with the economy and ending with ‘Sir Flip Flop’…

More from David Wilcock from the ITV ‘spin room’ as Labour seize on the latest Survation poll giving them a lead of 416 seats in the Commons.

Here the latest from David:

With exquisite timing, Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth has just been pumping out Labour’s latest attack line.

They have calculated that Tory spending commitments so far would cost £71billion, ‘the equivalent of a 12p increase in the basic rate of income tax’ – though there is no independent analysis.

That works out as £1billion for every Tory MP left in the commons if Survation’s MRP poll is to be believed.

Ashworth told reporters that it meant the PM would have to go on a ‘Trussite spending bonanza’ to pay for it. Labour have frequently weaponised the economic fallout from the ex-PM’s time in No10 in this campaign, expect to see it again and again.

MailOnline’s political correspondent Greg Heffer has the full breakdown on the topics likely to be debated by Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer tonight.

The leaders have arrived at ITV studios to go through last-minute preparations before they debate each other under the lights.

It’s a huge moment in this election campaign and we will guide you through it.

The Labour leader may not be facing a situation as desperate as his opponent, but make no mistake, he will be under pressure tonight.

After a week of campaigning that was thrown off course by the Diane Abbott saga and questions over his leadership, Mr Starmer will have one goal in mind…to look like a Prime Minister in waiting.

Commentators say the Labour leader is likely to take a safety first approach to the debate which I assume means to avoid a war of words or being goaded by Mr Sunak.

Mr Starmer will surely emphasise he’s the candidate of change but a successful night for him will result in the polls remaining exactly where they are with Labour well out in front.

The stakes are high for the Prime Minister tonight, even more than he possibly imagined following Nigel Farage’s dramatic u-turn yesterday to stand as a candidate as the new leader of the Reform party.

In order for a successful night, Mr Sunak has to score a comprehensive victory over the Labour leader.

He also needs to appeal to voters considering joining the Farage bandwagon and throwing support behind Reform instead of the Conservatives.

Mr Sunak has shown already he is willing to roll the dice by calling a snap election despite a huge deficit in the polls, will throwing caution to the wind in search of victory under the studio lights be a gamble worth taking?

With less than an hour before Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer debate one another live on ITV let’s turn our attention to the leaders.

It’s a big night for both of them with hopes of becoming Prime Minister on the line.

Let’s take a look at the pressures facing them and what they need to do to help their chances on July 4

With just an hour to go before the debate kicks off, read our preview from James Tapsfield as Rishi Sunak faces a make-or-break moment under the lights in Salford.

I may have spoken too soon…Survation has released its first MRP poll (Multi-level Regression and Poststratification in case you didn’t know) and it is horrific news for Rishi Sunak.

It shows the Tories left with just 71 seats while Labour ahead by a whopping 416!

New polls will spring up throughout the campaign but it’s forecast like these that are likely to keep Conservatives awake at night.

Despite 30 days to go until the general election, Rishi Sunak must be sick at the sight of the polls.

From forecasts of electoral oblivion and huge Labour landslides, the Prime Minister has had little to no joy from public opinion so far but the latest survey could give him cause for optimism.

A Savanta poll for The Telegraph shows Labour’s has decreased by three points to give them a lead of 14 – the party’s lowest lead since February.

The survey, which was conducted over the weekend, puts Labour on 42% of the vote share, with the Conservatives on 28%.

Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said:

This poll is a rare bit of positive news for Rishi Sunak ahead of his television debate with Keir Starmer. Labour’s lead is at its lowest and the Conservative vote share at its highest in a Savanta poll since February 2024, although all changes are within the margin of error.

That’s where the good news ends for the Prime Minister – even with these slightly more favourable numbers, Labour would still be on track for a three-figure majority. These figures won’t include Farage’s return to frontline UK politics, which may well cut the legs of any potential Conservative recovery.

MailOnline’s deputy political editor David Wilcock is reporting from Salford where Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will face off in the ITV televised debate

Here’s his first impressions from tonight’s ‘spin room’:

Tight security is in place at Media City UK in Salford with less than two hours to go before Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer go head-to-head in the first leadership debate of the election campaign.

But a short distance away across the Manchester Ship Canal, reporters covering the event are having a night on the tiles, Coronation Street style. They are being housed in a dimly lit space at ITV Studios, which houses the famous Weatherfield cobbles.

This is the ‘spin room’, where politicians and party officials will try to convince us their man has won the night and their opponent has performed dismally.

Tonight the Tories have sent ministers Michael Gove, Victoria Atkins, Claire Coutinho and Johnny Mercer in to bat for team Tory. Fielding for Labour are Wes Streeting, Jonathan Ashworth and Liz Kendall.

The set of the venerated soap is open to the public when it is not being filmed, will the side that comes off worst be tempted to drown their sorrows with a pint of Newton & Ridley’s finest in the Rovers Return?

Lee Cain, the former Downing Street director of communications under Boris Johnson, has given some insight ahead of tonight’s TV debate telling his social media followers the most important thing is to remember it’s not actually a debate.

Mr Cain (pictured) posted a lengthy thread on X earlier in which he told how Mr Johnson was prepared ahead of his leaders debate with then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

The most important thing to remember is the debate is *not* a debate. It is an opportunity to drive a message and frame the choice to millions of voters. In 2019, that frame was ‘back Boris to get Brexit done’ (change) or ‘dither and delay with Jeremy Corbyn’ (more of the same)

Boris was put through relentless drilling exercises designed to keep message discipline in the face of extreme provocation. Like a boxer in fight camp – train hard, fight easy was our motto

Fresh sparring partners, Michael Gove and Oliver Dowden, took on the role of Jeremy Corbyn. They were armed with a forensic 100-page war book and required to give the exhausted candidate a ‘going over’. Boris too was told not to take a step back and be aggressive with ‘Corbyn’

Getting the candidate ready is only half the battle – campaign teams also have to undergo gruelling negotiations with the broadcasters and opposing parties. In every election debate I have organised, it is negotiations and the fallout that cause the controversy.

Our big win in ’19 was convincing the broadcasters to host the first televised head-to-head between the PM & Leader of the Opposition. Boris v Corbyn was our ideal framing for the election.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has today reiterated he should be joining Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer in the ITV debate tonight.

The SNP leader told Sky News that as leader of the ‘third largest party in the United Kingdom’ he should be entitled to take part in the programme.

He said viewers needed more voices as the Labour and the Conservatives ‘agree on an awful lot of things’ including migration and fiscal restraint.

Mr Swinney added there needed to be a different voice against austerity.

The Lib Dem leader has predicted tonight’s debate will be a snoozefest with viewers ‘switching off’ their TVs if they tune in to Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

Speaking to the BBC, Sir Ed Davey said he has a feeling ‘people are fed up of hearing from the Conservatives’.

Rishi Sunak, I have to tell you, he’s had his chance and he’s messed it up. He has to go. These ideas he’s coming out with are all wrong, just very poorly thought through, so the Conservatives need to be kicked out of office.

Davey will be interviewed by ITV in a separate programme after the debate finishes.

This is the moment Rishi Sunak left the ITV studio earlier today after visiting the set ahead of tonight’s election debate.

The Prime Minister has been busily campaigning across the country since he called the snap election but has kept a low profile ahead of his clash with Keir Starmer.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is ‘looking forward’ to Tuesday night’s TV debate.

The Labour leader spent the morning campaigning in the north west before preparing for the debate in the afternoon.

Asked how was feeling ahead of the head-to-head with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Labour leader said:

Very good, looking forward to the opportunity to speak directly to voters through the debate to put our case, because at the end of the day it is that clear choice, and I think voters will see that tonight.

More of the same, we’ve had 14 years of this and after 14 years nothing is better than when the Tories started, we can end that, turn the page and start to rebuild our country with the Labour Party.

I’m looking forward to be able to make that argument in the debate this evening.

Asked if he had been preparing for the debate, Sir Keir added:

Well, look, I’ve got a team preparing with me, it’s much the same team as for PMQs, and I suppose the best bit for the staff is that they get the opportunity in the debate to put the difficult questions to them, so they’re relishing that.

Tonight’s debate is the first of the general election campaign with plenty more to follow before the country votes on July 4.

Here is your guide to what’s coming up:

• ITV leaders debate – 9pm tonight
• Friday, June 7 – Mishal Husain will host a debate between leading figures from the seven biggest political parties in Great Britain. This will be broadcast from 7.30pm-9pm
• Tuesday, June 11- Stephen Jardine will chair Scotland Election 2024 Leaders’ Special featuring the leaders of the five Scottish parties. They will appear in front of a live audience on BBC One Scotland from 8pm to 9pm
• Thursday, June 13 – Julie Etchingham will host a debate featuring leaders or representatives from seven political parties. 8.30pm to 10pm
• Thursday, June 20 – Fiona Bruce will host a Question Time Leaders’ Special with the leaders of the four biggest political parties in Great Britain, broadcast from 8pm-10pm
• Friday, June 21 – Bethan Rhys Roberts hosts Wales Leaders’ Debate live with the main parties in Wales from 7pm
• Wednesday, June 26, – Sophie Raworth will host a head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer. It will be broadcast from 9pm-10pm
• Thursday, June 27 – Tara Mills will preside over the Northern Ireland Leaders’ Debate featuring the main party leaders

Julie Etchingham will moderate the first televised head-to-head debate between the leaders of Conservative and Labour.

The 54-year-old newsreader joined ITV in 2008 after previously working at the BBC and Sky News.

She brings plenty of experience to the format having chaired debates between David Cameron and Nigel Farage in 2016, and ITV debates in the 2017 and 2019 general elections.

Away from politics, Etchingham has also co-presented ITV’s coverage of major royal events such as Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle and the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021.

Before we turn our attention to tonight’s debate, let’s just recap on the biggest stories of the day as Nigel Farage endured a (milk) shaky start in his run to the be the next MP for Clacton.

Here are some of the biggest stories of the day:

For all the latest news on the campaign trail visit MailOnline’s website

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the TV leaders debate as Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer go head-to-head on ITV.

The stakes are high for both men wanting to become the Prime Minister next month.

Mr Sunak will be hoping a strong performance can help turn the tide in his favour following some concerning polls, while Keir Starmer will look to cement his position as the change candidate.

We will be providing live updates from the debate as well as analysis and reaction.

Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate will take place live in front of a studio audience and will be broadcast on ITV1, ITVX and STV and STV Player at 9pm.