Hansard Society and Televised Leaders' Debates - Sept 1, 2009

The Hansard Society, the UK's leading non-partisan political research and education charity, has long supported the principle of televised Leaders' Debates as an important contribution to the public's engagement with, and participation in, the democratic process.

The Hansard Society, which organised the first ever televised Speaker Hustings earlier this year, is happy to collaborate with broadcasters in the organisation of televised Leaders' Debates on the following principles:

• The three main national party leaders must be present.
• The format must be demonstrably fair and agreed by all political parties
• The televised debates must be conducted with strict impartiality
• The televised debates must provide an opportunity for members of the public to question and challenge the candidates
• Any debate musty be made available to all the main broadcasting channels and on the internet
• The televised debates must make every effort to stimulate genuine communication between party leaders and voters, improved political education and information about the main issues facing the UK and wider participation in the political process.

Fiona Booth, Chief Executive of the Hansard Society, commented:

‘Televised debates between leaders of the major parties are now customary in most democracies and the Hansard Society has long supported such an event in the UK. We believe that civic society is most effective when its citizens are connected with the institutions and individuals who represent them in the democratic process. Televised Leaders' Debates would offer the opportunity to bring the election debate directly into people's living rooms where they can assess the parties' attitudes to the main policy issues at stake in the next general election.' 

For more information contact Virginia Gibbons at the Hansard Society on 020 7438 1225 or 07812 765 552

Editors' Notes

• The Hansard Society is the UK's leading non-partisan political research and education charity which exists to strengthen parliamentary democracy and encourage greater public involvement in politics. http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/
• The Hansard Society has published two papers, Televised Leaders' Debates, 1997 and Televised Leaders' Debates Revisited, 2001.
• The Hansard Society has unique experience in organising a televised debate among candidates for a national position. The Speaker Hustings (organised by the Hansard Society on June 15, 2009) included all 10 candidates and therefore posed special problems of balance. This involved devising new guidelines to ensure that each candidate had an opportunity to answer some questions, without each of them answering all questions. The process was regarded as fair and impartial by all involved.