NEWS3 March 2010
UK— Research agency and opinion pollster ICM has been picked by a consortium of broadcasters to recruit studio audiences for Britain’s first televised election debates.
Leaders of the three main parties – Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – will face-off against one another in front of a live audience of 200 voters.
Three debates are due to be held, one for each week of the general election campaign. Debate locations are yet to be announced, but ICM has been tasked with recruiting audiences within a 30-mile radius of the host city.
Around 80% of the audience will be voters who have expressed a voting intention at the time of recruitment. The remaining 20% will be undecided, but politically-engaged, voters.
The general election is due to take place on or before the 3 June. It is expected that Prime Minister Gordon Brown will call the election on 6 May.