ITV announces General Election night plans

ITV announces General Election night plans 

Election night

ITV has today confirmed its line up for Election night.

[Pictured: (l-r) George Osborne, Nicola Sturgeon, Tom Bradby and Ed Balls]

Tom Bradby - who anchored election nights in 2015, 2017 and 2019 - will again lead ITV's coverage as viewers see the results announced and the emerging political shape of the new Parliament.

Tom will be joined in the studio throughout the night by an unrivalled team of political insider guests including George Osborne, Ed Balls and Nicola Sturgeon for Election 2024 Live: The Results airing on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.  

Also on hand will be ITV News' Robert Peston, Anushka Asthana and Paul Brand plus ITV's leading election analysts Professor Jane Green and Professor Colin Rallings. 

ITV News reporters will be on the ground right around the UK throughout bringing news from every corner of the country.

At 6am Good Morning Britain will come on air with Susanna Reid and Ed Balls co-anchoring, with the latter leaving the overnight coverage to join GMB. 

The studio will host the best, brightest, most outspoken and listened to political policy makers and commentators in the country including leading political punditry pairing Andrew Pierce and Kevin Maguire, former PM Boris Johnson's communications chief Guto Harri, Labour veteran Harriet Harman, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and newly enobled Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika who will all join as guests as the show continues to cover up-to-the-minute election news and insights through to 9.25am.

ITV will remain on air from 9.25am with Julie Etchingham leading the coverage. Will Rishi Sunak stay in Number 10 or will Keir Starmer arrive for the first time? Who will be moving into ministerial offices? Dramatic political questions are likely to be answered during the live coverage on Day 2.

Michael Jermey, ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs, said; “ITV will be on air from just before the polls close right through until the full results are known. Tom Bradby and his guests will share great analysis and insider knowledge with our viewers through the night. With cameras and reporters right around the country we’ll follow the political story wherever it goes.

Good Morning Britain will be on air in its regular slot and then through the rest of Day 2, as politicians head to Westminster having learned the results, Julie Etchingham and our team of political correspondents will be live on ITV1 reporting on all the events in Westminster and Downing Street. It promises to be a dramatic day”.

The campaign 

Throughout the campaign ITV is running extensive coverage across its news and current affairs output on both television and on digital platforms.

Highlights include:

• ITV Lunchtime News, ITV Evening News, ITV News and Ten - ITV’s regular national news output is covering every twist and turn of the election with correspondents on the campaign trail with the party leaders. Specialist correspondents are looking closely at the issues which voters have said are most important to them

•  ITV Regions and Nations News - Across the country ITV’s 18 distinct regions and nations news services are looking closely at the policy issues from a local perspective, covering the political leaders visiting each region, asking young first time voters what they want from the election and also profiling key local constituencies. Across the campaign regional news teams will produce a portrait of what’s happening on the ground in 100 constituencies. The constituency profile reports will all be available to stream on ITVX.

• ITVX 24/7 coverage - The ITV News section on the homepage of ITVX will have a constantly updated rail covering all the day’s political news and every weekday at 4pm there will be a live edition of Talking Politics, presented by Tom Bradby, Julie Etchingham, Robert Peston and Anushka Asthana. The daily ITVX programme Talking Politics: The Election will be available as a podcast on all podcast platforms.

• Additionally, ITV News is producing a daily election newsletter highlighting the best video content and reporting from the day. Plus, ITV News will continue to offer daily Rundown bulletins on Instagram and Snapchat, as well as creating unique TikTok content aimed at engaging younger audiences and explaining the political process.

• Britain’s most-watched weekly current affairs programme, Tonight, will run a series of party leader profiles. 

• Peston  – ITV’s regular political show – will continue to provide a fresh, insightful and lively perspective on all the latest news from the campaign trail. Featuring exclusive analysis from Robert Peston and Anushka Asthana, as well as major interviews with political heavy hitters and topical guests, every Wednesday at 9pm online and 10.45pm on ITV1 and ITVX. 

TV Debates

ITV aired the first head-to-head General Election debate between Rishi Sunak, leader of the Conservative Party, and Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party on Tuesday 4th June at 9pm. 

The hour-long debate, Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate, moderated by Julie Etchingham reached a peak of 5.5m viewers across devices and is available to stream on ITVX. 

The debate was followed at 10.10pm by The ITV Election Interviews presented by Anushka Asthana. The leaders of the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Reform UK and the Greens were invited to take part in this live programme featuring extended interviews. It is available to stream on ITVX. 

The leader of Plaid Cymru was invited to take part in an interview with ITV Cymru Wales which broadcast in Wales that evening.

ITV has confirmed that its General Election multi-party debate will take place on Thursday, 13th June at 8.30pm. 

The ITV Election Debate 2024 will be broadcast on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

Leaders or senior representatives from the following parties will participate; Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Reform UK, Green Party and Plaid Cymru.

The debate will be moderated by Julie Etchingham, who has now moderated ITV election debates at four General Elections (2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024). 

The programme will run for 90 minutes. It will be followed by ITV News at Ten.

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