Robert Jenrick asks BBC to host Tory leadership debate by end of the week

Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has asked the BBC to host a head-to-head televised debate between him and his opponent Kemi Badenoch.

He has written to BBC director-general Tim Davie asking for a debate by the end of the coming week as Conservative Party members start to cast their ballots from Thursday.

He said such debates have become a fixture in leadership contests and noted that the BBC hosted Labour in 2020 and the Conservatives in 2022.

“I am ready to debate anywhere, and at any time. I am sure Kemi feels similarly.

“As our national broadcaster, I hope the BBC takes up this offer and platforms this debate — just as it did for Labour in 2020.”

It is understood that discussions with the BBC are at an early stage but that some of the conditions suggested by the Conservative Party are not workable for the broadcaster.

The broadcaster has interviewed both candidates recently, with Mr Jenrick appearing on the most recent edition of Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg and Ms Badenoch on the programme two weeks before.

A source from Ms Badenoch’s campaign pointed to a televised GB News debate scheduled for Thursday.

It is understood that Ms Badenoch and Mr Jenrick will answer questions separately rather than face each other during the event.

Mr Jenrick also sent the letter to ITV, Channel 4, Sky, GB News and TalkTV.

He said he would participate in a head-to-head debate on any of those TV stations and added there is a “strong case” for two or three debates.

GB News and the BBC have been contacted for comment.

Mr Jenrick wrote in his letter that the party will only regain people’s trust if the two contenders set out detailed answers to challenges of migration, the economy, the NHS and defence.

“I do not think the promise of ‘plans tomorrow’ will cut it,” he said.

Former business secretary Ms Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph on Saturday that her pitch to be leader is “about rewiring the entire state, not just single policies such as leaving the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights)”.

“I will use the time we Conservatives have in opposition to create a real plan to fix the British state and the economy,” she wrote.

Mr Jenrick has advocated for leaving the ECHR as a way to tackle immigration.

The MP for Newark, nicknamed “Robert Generic” when he was first elected to the Commons in 2014 for his apparently moderate politics, has gradually moved to the right of the party.

He resigned as immigration minister last December, claiming legislation designed to revive the former Rwanda deportation policy did “not go far enough”.

Mr Jenrick has also said he would make Jacob Rees-Mogg, who lost his seat in the July election, Conservative Party chairman.

James Cleverly, who urged the party to be “more normal” in his speech to members at the party conference, was knocked out of the race in a shock result in the final ballot of Conservative MPs this week.

The new leader will be announced on November 2.