Schedule Puts Lionesses Against ITV Leaders' Debate

Some links may help generate a commission that supports The Addition.

On Tuesday, the ITV leaders’ debate and the Lionesses’s crucial Euro 2025 qualifier against France, will be shown by the same broadcaster. It seems a real shame that they clash, but this is likely to be a consistent theme now that a General Election has been called during what is set to be a great summer of sport.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer will go head-to-head from 9 pm on Tuesday, 4th June. That is live on ITV1. By then, Sabrina Wiegman’s squad will have already kicked off their match in Saint-Etienne, which starts at 8 PM. The game is set to be shown on ITV4. Both events can also be streamed live on ITVX.

Must-Win Contests

The ITV leaders’ debate will last an hour. The broadcaster also announced on Friday that it is going to show a second political clash. That will include the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Reform UK, Green Party and Plaid Cymru, alongside Labour and the Conservatives. Julie Etchingham led debates in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and will return to chair both this time around.

Michael Jermey, ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs, said:

ITV’s debate programmes will allow millions of viewers to see and hear the politicians debate the big issues facing the country. Many of our viewers tell us they greatly value the TV debates. We’re pleased that ITV will be able to provide a forum in which voters can question the political leaders and in which politicians can debate directly with each other.

If you’re a British licence fee payer but are abroad and want to watch, you can do so with a VPN. I use NordVPN.

Meanwhile, it’s a must-win for match England. They put in a poor performance against Les Bleues on Friday and fell to a 1-2 defeat. The Lionesses need a victory to return to second place in the group and go through to defend their title at Euro 2025. The match was originally scheduled to be shown on the main ITV channel. However, it has been bumped for Sunak vs Starmer. We know that this team can bring in big TV audiences, but this will undoubtedly have an effect.

I think I know which is going to be the more dignified and compelling contest…