Lords: boost election debate diversity

A House of Lords Communications Committee focused on the election debates noted that white men hosted all three of the 2010 events. David Dimbleby oversaw the BBC debate, while Alastair Stewart and Adam Boulton were in charge of the ITV News and Sky News events respectively.

Although Channel 4 did not officially host a debate, it did stage an Ask the Chancellors event, which was moderated by Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

“It was surprising to us and no doubt to the electorate as a whole that there were no women and no members of ethnic minorities,” the committee’s report said, adding that addressing this shortfall could be an important way of engaging more voters in the discussions.

The group of peers, who heard evidence from ITV, C4, Sky and the BBC, said none provided any concrete plans on how they would tackle diversity. The committee suggested the possibility of introducing a “panel of moderators”, representing different genders, ages and ethnicity, but admitted that it is ultimately an editorial decision for the broadcasters themselves.

Wider recommendations

Elsewhere, the report also recommended launching an online hub for the election debates, which can act as a “one-stop shop for information” about the events.

“The videos of the 2010 debates have not been easy to find online after the event. We consider this to be a missed opportunity and there would be considerable merit in ensuring that the debates are easily discoverable for the general public,” it said.

The report also considered making changes to the strict set of 76 rules agreed by the broadcasters and political parties for the 2010 debates, which governed everything from timings to discussion themes and close-ups of audience members.

It suggested that greater involvement from the general public and giving audience members the opportunity to ask follow-up questions would help improve voter engagement. However, it warned that too many changes could jeopardise the events taking place.

The Lords report recognised the success of the 2010 election debates, but said a “whole range of obstacles” stand in the way of repeating the process. Prime minister David Cameron has suggested that he is interested in participating in a range of debates ahead of the election in May 2015 and discussions with the broadcasters will begin later this year.

Labour leader Ed Milliband told the Radio Times last month: “The starting point for negotiations should be the agreement Cameron signed up to four years ago: three debates between the three main party leaders over three weeks of the campaign.

“With the election just a year away, it is time Cameron stopped dragging his feet and showed he is willing to debate the future of our country by allowing the negotiations to begin.”