Election debates: Party leaders' TV debate schedule revealed

No debates between David Cameron and Ed Miliband alone have been set up

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrats, Ed Miliband, Labour, and David Cameron, Conservatives (PA, Reuters)

The schedule of televised debates between party leaders ahead of the general election in May was announced today.

A live debate between leaders of seven major parties will take place on 2 April on ITV.

It will include David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband, Natalie Bennett, Nigel Farage, Nicola Sturgeon and Leanne Wood.

Two live interviews are set up for Cameron and Miliband to be jointly broadcast on Channel 4 and Sky the week before the seven-way debate. They will each answer questions separately.

Although a debate a week before polling day on 7 May has been set up between Clegg, Cameron and Miliband, no head-to-head discussions with the leader of the Labour party have yet been agreed to by the Prime Minister.

Jeremy Paxman will be grilling leaders with tough questions

26 March: Live question and answer programme on Channel 4 and Sky News featuring David Cameron and Ed Miliband separately, presented by Jeremy Paxman and Kay Burley

2 April: Debate with seven party leaders on ITV, moderated by Julie Etchingham

16 April: Debate between five opposition party leaders on the BBC, moderated by David Dimbleby

30 April: BBC Question Time programme with David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, presented by David Dimbleby

The last televised pre-election debates in 2010 attracted audiences of up to 22 million people, according to the BBC.