By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson will face media scrutiny during the next BBC televised debate next week.
The former Foreign Secretary has agreed to participate in a television debate to be aired after the second round of MPs’ voting. His co-operation comes after rival candidates accused Johnson, who is the front runner for the next prime ministerial post, of avoiding media scrutiny. Johnson has refused to take part in a Channel 4 debate, but said he did not mind taking part in the BBC debate. Johnson said:
”My own observation is that in the past when you’ve had loads of candidates, it can be slightly cacophonous and I think the public have had quite a lot of blue-on-blue action, frankly, over the last three years.”
He added: “We don’t necessarily need a lot more of that, and so what I think the best solution would be would be to have a debate on what we all have to offer the country.
“The best time to do that, I think, would be after the second ballot on Tuesday and the best forum is the proposed BBC debate. I think that’s a good idea.” The BBC’s show – the first of several TV events is at 8pm on Tuesday and will be moderated by Newsnight host Emily Maitlis and airs two hours after the second ballot – where any candidate with fewer than 33 backers is knocked out.
The candidates will stand side-by-side on the stage during the hour-long live special Our Next Prime Minister, filmed in London. Boris Johnson is leading the race to become Britain’s next prime minister after securing by far the highest number of votes in the first ballot to determine the future Conservative leader. Mr Johnson received 114 votes, ahead of Jeremy Hunt who followed with 43 votes, and Michael Gove third with 37 votes. Johnson received more than three times the votes received by any of the other contenders
Johnson’s popularity with Mps in his party makes him a strong contender for the top job, many of his colleagues are sympathetic with the way he missed out on his opportunity in 2016. Whether he will win and do so successfully lead Britain through Brexit, remains to be seen.