[interestednovice]

It seemed to be a random amount of back and forth come-backs, before they decided it had taken too long so someone said in Julie’s earpiece “cut them off”!

[Andrew]

It’s a thankless task though because you know if one leader was given longer to make a point, it’d be all over the internet ‘Why was X allowed to talk but Y was interrupted’

[interestednovice]

Yes, very difficult indeed!

I didn’t envy (or blame) Julie for struggling with it, but the 45 second thing was really a mistake.

[UTVLifer]

It was a pretty disappointing debate.

Julie was clearly trying her best but the 45 second thing wasn't working and the way Sunak and Starmer ended up shouting and talking over her reminded me of the dreadful Trump/Biden debates from 2020

[TIGHazard]

It was a pretty disappointing debate.

Julie was clearly trying her best but the 45 second thing wasn't working and the way Sunak and Starmer ended up shouting and talking over her reminded me of the dreadful Trump/Biden debates from 2020

I just saw a debate format idea from elsewhere

1hr debate. Candidates are issued a chess clock for interruptions.

You want to interrupt the other person? You can. But should you hit that limit, your mic is completely muted. The other person can then use the rest of the debate answering the rest of the questions with the other having no opportunity to respond to the question.

[scottishtv]

The debates do seem to be part of the campaign landscape now, but I don't think they've helped viewers much in recent years. No-one can possibly tell you how they'd fix big problems in 45 seconds.

One-on-one interviews with party leaders - after the manifestoes have been published - could be more enlightening.

Looking forward to seeing how some of the other broadcasters' discussion formats work out.

[matthieu1221]

Don't think any of the other parties are regretting being excluded from the debate now! Caught a bit of the Ed Davey interview which came after and how refreshing it is not to have 45 seconds to produce a soundbite to be shared on social media.

I do wonder how the 7 party debate will be formatted on Friday -- though, unfortunately given the number of participants and the only marginally longer runtime, I'd be impressed if it were any better than this. Happy to be proven wrong though.

[XIII]

i know things are thrown together at the last minute but I wonder if there needs to be better planning for election debates and panels. There's no joined up thinking from broadcasters so debates end up being either no well produced, unwieldy or too long.

[DeMarkay]

I know this would never happen in a million years, but I can’t help but feel this should’ve been a joint BBC and ITV debate, with Victoria Derbyshire moderating and Anushka Asthana fact checking.

No disrespect to Julie whatsoever, but tonight’s debate was so badly moderated. I had to switch over to Channel 4 multiple times.

[Alessi]

No disrespect to Julie whatsoever, but tonight’s debate was so badly moderated. I had to switch over to Channel 4 multiple times.

As the moderator was Julie, there is a disrespect But I agree with you, Julie wasn't good.