On TV tonight... the Mr and Mrs May show

Theresa May hopes voters will see “what makes her tick” when she and her husband, Philip, sit on the BBC’S One Show sofa tonight for their first joint television interview. Mr May, who works for the City firm Capital International, has received no media t

THERESA MAY will answer questions from voters in a live BBC programme after the broadcaster backed down from “embarrassing” her into taking part in a head-to-head debate.

The corporation said it would not “empty chair” the Prime Minister or any other leader who did not want to take party in head-to-head television debates.

It means that Mrs May is unlikely to debate with any rival leader on television before election day on June 8.

However, she will be expected to attend a Question Time debate on BBC One on June 2, where she and other party leaders will be questioned separately by a live studio audience.

The BBC will also hold a seven-way leaders’ debate and televise nightly interviews with the leaders of all the main parties, including the SNP, Greens, Ukip and Plaid Cymru.

Mrs May will not take part in any head-to-head debate, and Jeremy Corbyn has said he will not take part without the Prime Minister. This means that the minor party leaders – Tim Farron, Nicola Sturgeon and Paul Nuttall – are likely to be joined by Tory and Labour frontbench spokesmen. It is not known which of the Green Party’s two joint leaders – Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley – will take part.

Party sources said the BBC had been pushing privately for a head-to-head, but had to admit defeat after Mrs May dug in her heels and refused to face Mr Corbyn directly on live television.

Jonathan Munro, the BBC’S head of newsgathering, told viewers in a blog: “The Prime Minister has said she will not participate in a televised leaders’ debate. That is her right.

“We won’t be embarrassing anybody into taking part – there’ll be no empty chair or vacant podium on any BBC programme.

“Ultimately it is for each party to say who will participate. We are inviting them to put up for the debate the person that they think will best make their party’s case. We do this because we think it is right to host debates that give people the chance to see how the major parties match up against each other. Rest assured, we’ll be putting your tough questions to all the party leaders across a series of programmes during the campaign.

“That will include bringing Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in front of the same Question Time audience on the same night to be quizzed by the public.

“We will scrutinise the Conservative and Labour leaders and we will do it in a way that asks the difficult questions, placing the audience and the choice at the heart of these prime-time programmes.”

Mrs May has made clear that she believes she does not need to hold live television debates with Mr Corbyn as the pair debate policies regularly in the House of Commons.

The BBC said a programme broadcast live from Cambridge on Wednesday May 31 will feature a seven-way podium debate between the seven main parties.

Two days later, David Dimbleby will host a prime-time Question Time special with Mrs May and Mr Corbyn broadcast live on BBC One from York.

Then, on Sunday June 4, Dimbleby will chair a second Question Time special from Edinburgh, with the Liberal Democrats’ Tim Farron and the SNP’S Nicola Sturgeon, live on BBC One. The BBC will broadcast two further programmes featuring Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood and Ukip’s Paul Nuttall.

Throughout the week of May 22, the presenter Andrew Neil will interview Mrs May, Mr Corbyn, Mr Farron, Mr Nuttall and Ms Sturgeon at 7pm on BBC One. A sixth interview with Leanne Wood will air on BBC One in Wales.

ITV has said it will go ahead with its plans for a seven-way head-to-head debate on Thursday next week, whether or not Mrs May takes part.

The broadcaster is meeting the parties today. Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, and Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, are expected to replace their leaders.

The debate on May 18 will be broadcast live at 8pm, and will be moderated by Julie Etchingham, the ITV News presenter.

Sky News has not published its plans, but it is thought to be planning to interview each leader separately, with questions posed by a live audience and the broadcaster’s political editor, Faisal Islam.