This is who will be on the BBC's flagship political debate programme this evening
The BBC’s flagship political debate programme will be broadcast from Telford today after millions of voters in England will have voted in local elections. While the results won’t be in by the time of broadcast, those elections will no doubt be high on the list for discussion.
Conservative journalist Peter Hitchens will be on the panel. Hitchens is the author of a number of books including The Abolition of Britain and The Rage Against God. He is a columnist for The Mail on Sunday.
The Tories will be represented by Mark Harper. Harper is currently the transport secretary and an MP for Forest of Dean. He stood to be leader of the Conservative Party in 2019, coming ninth out of the ten candidates.
Minette Batters will also be appearing on the show. Batters is the current president of the National Farmers’ Union.
The shadow foreign secretary David Lammy will be representing Labour. Lammy has been an MP for 23 years, representing Tottenham since 2000. He served as a minister under the Blair and Brown governments and returned to the frontbench upon Keir Starmer’s election as Labour leader.
Finally, the folk musician and activist Billy Bragg will be the fifth panellist. Bragg’s music career has spanned over 40 years and he has long been known for his left wing campaigning.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Nigel Luckhurst, UK Parliament, Andrew Parsons / Number 10, UK Parliament, YouTube screengrab
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