Michael Bloomberg qualifies for his first Democratic election debate

Candidate will take the stage on Wednesday after surging into second in national poll

Michael Bloomberg has qualified for his first Democratic debate appearance, after a new poll showed him behind frontrunner Bernie Sanders.

With just days to go before the Nevada caucuses, the NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey put Mr Bloomberg’s support at 19 per cent nationally – meaning he is polling second behind Bernie Sanders, who leads on 31 per cent.

Mr Bloomberg’s breakthrough in the new poll meant he reached the qualifying requirement of having four Democratic National Committee-approved national polls showing him attracting more than 10 per cent of support. He will now join the other candidates on stage on Wednesday night.

He was not previously eligible for the debates because candidates had to demonstrate they had received donations from a certain number of individual donors, and as a self-funded candidate, he is his campaign’s sole donor.

However, that requirement was abolished at the end of January.

Having decided to skip the first four states in the primary calendar, Mr Bloomberg has put hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money into a massive nationwide advertising campaign, including a minute-long spot during the Super Bowl that cost him roughly $10m.

He has also hired hundreds of staff in more than 30 states, including the 14 states voting on 3 March as part of the all-important Super Tuesday.

His campaign has lately been dogged by controversy, including over the stop-and-frisk policy he implemented while mayor of New York.