Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner to take part in BBC’s Friday election debate

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will not take part in Friday night’s seven-way election debate on the BBC.

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt will represent the Conservative Party, facing off against deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and others.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey will also not be attending, with his deputy Daisy Cooper stepping in.

Also taking part are leading figures from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and Reform UK.

Mishal Husain will host the June 7 debate in London from 7.30pm to 9pm, during which members of the audience and the public will have the chance to ask questions.

The Prime Minister and his Labour rival are preparing for their first televised leaders’ debate of the election campaign airing on ITV on Tuesday evening.

They are also confirmed to be going head-to-head on the BBC at 9pm on June 26, in what is expected to be the final TV debate before polling day.

Also included in the BBC’s election coverage is a two-hour Question Time leaders’ special, hosted by Fiona Bruce, from 8pm to 10pm on June 20.

The leaders of the four biggest political parties – the Conservative Party, Labour Party, Lib Dems and the SNP, will answer questions from the studio audience for 30 minutes each.

BBC journalist Nick Robinson has invited the leaders of the seven biggest political parties in Britain to be interviewed for Panorama specials, airing over the next four weeks.

Additional dedicated debates will take place in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.