There Might Not Be Any TV Debates Before The Election Because None Of The Parties Can Agree

The UK's political parties are struggling to find a format that everyone agrees on, so there might not be any debates at all. The latest suggestion involves seven different leaders sharing the stage.

The UK's political parties are stuck in limbo after broadcasters came back with a new set of proposals for televised leaders' debates. No one is happy.

PA Archive/Press Association Images Gareth Fuller

Before the 2010 general election, for the first time, all three major party leaders took part in live televised debates. It was a big moment in British politics which shaped the entire campaign – and one that was pretty simple to arrange.

But since then, several smaller political parties have seen surges in popularity, and now they want to be involved. What's left is a total mess.

The original proposal, made at the end of last year, was for three debates, each with a different format, to run during the election campaign:

Channel 4/Sky News: David Cameron vs Ed Miliband

BBC: David Cameron vs Ed Miliband vs Nick Clegg

ITV: David Cameron vs Ed Miliband vs Nick Clegg vs Nigel Farage

Now, after Cameron's team did their best to avoid taking part and the general public complained about the exclusion of the Greens, the broadcasters have come back with a new proposal which would see an astonishing seven political leaders sharing the stage:

Channel 4/Sky News: David Cameron vs Ed Miliband

BBC and ITV (two separate debates): David Cameron vs Ed Miliband vs Nick Clegg vs Nigel Farage vs Natalie Bennett (Greens) vs Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) vs Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru)

But not everyone's happy with that. As a result, there's still very little chance of all parties agreeing on the exact format, which means the debates still might not happen at all.

This is why each party is concerned about the format of who their leader appears alongside:

Conservatives

Pool / Reuters

Lots of people within the Conservatives still blame David Cameron's decision to take part in the 2010 leaders' debate for their failure to win an overall majority in that year's general election. Whatever the reality, Downing Street is doing everything it can to avoid taking part in this year's debates, even if that means Cameron is chased around by a desperate journalist intern in a chicken costume until polling day.

The previous tactic was to insist the debates couldn't happen unless the Greens were included. Broadcasters have now called Downing Street's bluff on this one, so the race is on to find another excuse to keep the prime minister from having to face off against Nigel Farage.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: Pretty much everything.

Labour

Andrew Yates / Reuters

As the only credible challenger to David Cameron for the position of prime minister, Labour's Ed Miliband would be included by default in all the debates, regardless of the format. Miliband recently joined with Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage to write a rare joint letter calling for the debates to go ahead regardless, with or without the prime minister's involvement.

But this enthusiasm doesn't mean the party doesn't have an interest in shaping the format of the debates: The inclusion of the Greens could give the upstart party – which is taking votes from Labour – a massive publicity boost.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: The prospect of including the Greens.

Liberal Democrats

Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters

The last leadership debates featured a young, inspiring politician called Nick Clegg who pledged to give the Westminster elite a kicking. The public loved it, at first: Cleggmania happened, then disintegrated, and the fallout resulted in a hung parliament and the Lib Dems in government. The televised leaders' debates helped push the party into power.

This time around, the Lib Dems are struggling. They're behind in the polls but a spokesman says that they "must be able to defend our record in all the TV debates". They're more unpopular than UKIP but far more important in terms of who will form the next government, so want to be at the heart of every discussion.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: Not being included in every debate. Letting all the other anti-establishment parties in.

UKIP

Luke Macgregor / Reuters

The last time Nigel Farage appeared in major TV debate was when Nick Clegg challenged him to two head-to-head debates ahead of the European elections. Farage and his anti-establishment schtick won the debates, and UKIP won the most seats at the European elections.

Being included in the initial proposals as the one upstart party in even one debate was a major success for UKIP. Being included in two could be even better, but would dilute the amount of TV time allocated to Farage.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: They're pretty happy, actually, but would probably prefer to be the only challenger party to be included in the debates.

Greens

PA Wire/Press Association Images Nick Ansell

The Greens definitely want to be in the leadership debates, as they keep saying. That said, the high-profile campaign to get them involved has highlighted their anti-establishment status and resulted in enormous amounts of free publicity that helped fuel a massive increase in support. Last October party leader Natalie Bennett told BuzzFeed News that being banned from the debates "might be good" for the Green party: "It reinforces our outsider thing, whereas UKIP would be on the inside."

What they don't like about the debate proposals: The prospect of two appearances alongside David Cameron and Ed Miliband is the stuff that Green dreams are made of. But they might not enjoy it if Natalie Bennett doesn't perform on the night.

SNP/Plaid Cymru

Cathal Mcnaughton / Reuters

The unexpected decision by the broadcasters to come back with a new debate format featuring seven party leaders caught the Welsh and Scottish nationalists by surprise. Neither SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon nor Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood intend to stand in the 2015 Westminster election, but that won't stop them relishing the attention in a national debate.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: Nothing. They didn't even expect to be invited until Thursday afternoon.

DUP/Everyone else

Cathal Mcnaughton / Reuters

The SNP, with its six MPs, has an invite to the debates, as does Plaid Cymru, with three – but Northern Ireland's DUP, which has eight MPs? Nothing. Zilch. Peter Robinson, the party's leader, is angry and has let it be known that his party will complain to the BBC and ITV if the debates go ahead without them.

Then there's the other Northern Irish parties, and George Galloway, Respect's only MP, who also wants in. As do the Cornish nationalists. All of this is before we've heard from every other candidate standing for for some two-bit party in the Dunny-on-the-Wold constituency.

What they don't like about the debate proposals: EVERYTHING. And these small parties have the ability to really disrupt the planning for the debates and stop them going ahead.

Good luck sorting this mess out.