The General Election on ITV Tom Bradby, Julie Etchingham and Robert Peston will lead ITV's General Election coverage in a series of programmes in the run up to election day, throughout the night after the polls close, and into June 9th. 

Anchored by Tom Bradby or Julie Etchingham, ITV News at Ten will be extended by 10 minutes each weekday from May 8th and ITV’s Peston on Sunday will have a series extension, with programmes through to June 25th. 

Presented by Julie Etchingham, ITV will broadcast primetime half-hour Tonight programmes ahead of the election. These Tonight Election Specials - starting with Tim Farron on May 8th, followed by further films featuring interviews with Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Paul Nuttall, as well as Nicola Sturgeon, Leanne Wood and Caroline Lucas - will focus on the leaders covering their lives, interests, policies and their vision for the future. 

ITV has broadcast major Leaders’ Debate programmes during the past two General Elections, making broadcasting history in 2010 with the first TV debate, and airing the only seven party Leaders’ Debate in 2015. Both debates were respectively the highest rating current affairs programmes in the years they were broadcast. The 2015 ITV Leaders’ Debate attracted a peak audience of 7.4 million (a 33% share of viewing), and averaged 7 million viewers (a 31% share of viewing) across the programme. 

The largest academic study on the 2015 debates* found that they had reached sections of the population least likely to be touched by the rest of the campaign - including younger and first time voters. 

ITV will again broadcast a major debate programme in 2017, inviting the leaders of the seven parties that were represented in the 2015 ITV Leaders’ Debate – the Conservatives, Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrats, UKIP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens. 

The ITV Leaders’ Debate will air on Thursday May 18th at 8pm, and will be moderated by ITV News anchor Julie Etchingham.  As in the previous two General Election debates, leaders will have the opportunity to make short opening statements at the beginning of the programme and closing statements at the conclusion of the debate. During the live debate, the leaders will have the opportunity to each in turn answer questions that are asked direct by members of the studio audience, before the floor is opened up to a period of free flowing debate. 

ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs, Michael Jermey said: "ITV will be offering our viewers a wide range of programmes on this snap election. Listening to voters and helping them put their questions direct to the politicians will be at the heart of what we'll do.  

We have a strong record on organising debate programmes and giving viewers the chance to put their questions straight to the politicians. The ITV Leaders' Debate moderated by Julie Etchingham and the debates in the nations will give viewers an opportunity to get answers.  

On election night we plan to have the fastest results service and hope more viewers than ever will choose to spend a dramatic night with ITV." 

ITV viewers in Wales will be able to watch a live ITV Wales Election Debate programme on Wednesday May 17th at 8pm, with five party leaders in Wales. The debate, in front of an invited audience, will be moderated by ITV Wales' Political Editor, Adrian Masters.  

In Northern Ireland, UTV will broadcast a 60 minute debate at 9pm on Wednesday May 24th, which will be moderated by UTV presenter Marc Mallett.  

STV’s Scotland Debates programme will air on Wednesday May 24th in ITV Border Scotland  and will include the leaders of the four main political parties in Scotland - the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson of the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour's Kezia Dugdale and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie. 

ITV News 
Throughout the campaign, ITV Network News and the ITV regions will be closely following how the election campaign progresses, providing in-depth analysis for viewers, getting answers to the questions that matter, listening to the voices of voters and challenging politicians across the UK. For the duration of the campaign period, News at Ten will be extended to 40 minutes each night and will be followed by ITV regional news bulletins as usual. 

ITV News’ team of specialist editors, headed up by Political Editor Robert Peston, will be unpicking the most complex issues of the election campaign for viewers and challenging the decision-makers at the heart of politics, supported by ITV’s expert political journalists at Westminster - including Libby Wiener, Carl Dinnen and Paul Brand. As the campaign progresses, developing business and economic issues will be charted and analysed by Business Editor Joel Hills and Economics Editor Noreena Hertz. 

Two dedicated teams, headed by Social Affairs Editor Penny Marshall and correspondent Martin Geissler, will be travelling the length and breadth of the UK to find out how the election landscape is changing and why, gauging how election issues are affecting everyday lives and gaining an insight into the minds of voters in some of the key battlegrounds. 

In addition, ITV News will dedicate target teams to follow the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat party leaders, focusing on their campaigns. Political Correspondent Emily Morgan will follow Theresa May on the campaign trail, Health Editor Rachel Younger will be with Jeremy Corbyn and correspondent Emma Murphy will follow Tim Farron’s team. 

From the local election results on 5th May, through to General Election day on 8th June, ITV Evening News with Mary Nightingale will take to the campaign trail to hear from politicians and voters on the issues that matter most to viewers. Mary will host the programme from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – and will be joined by ITV’s team of specialists to look at the issues that are key to deciding who wins General Election 2017. 

Geoff Hill, Editor of ITV News, said: “Our journalists will travel across the United Kingdom in the coming weeks, speaking and listening to the voting public who will be most affected by the outcome of Election 2017. Throughout the campaign, ITV News will examine manifestos, analyse policies, debate the key issues and challenge leading decision-makers. Our coverage will be dynamic and balanced, providing viewers with an accurate account of what’s happening ahead of voting day and who will be moving into Number 10 as Prime Minister on June 9th.” 

ITV’s regional news teams will be reporting on the battle for the key marginal seats as well as producing more than 80 constituency profile reports across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and southern Scotland for ITV’s flagship 6pm news programmes. The regional teams will be reporting from the frontline as the election story develops during the campaign, with regional political correspondents from Westminster basing themselves in their regions and nations to cover high profile visits locally and add their expert analysis to the coverage. ITV regional news teams will be talking to viewers on the issues of the day and hosting special set-piece debates to gauge reaction in communities up and down the country, including school debates which will help give a platform for younger voices. 

ITV News also will also be delivering continuous coverage of the election across its digital platforms.  Specialist correspondents will be filing regular updates from the campaign trail as events unfold, cutting through the noise to provide trusted analysis, plus impartial guides on where the parties stand on key policies. 

itv.com/news will be the home of Campaign Live - a live video feed of each day's campaign events using cameras located across the country - giving voters access to full, raw campaign coverage direct to their desktop, mobile or tablet. 

On social media, correspondents will be going live on Facebook to give their take on the campaign and to answer questions - with the ITV Twitter feed the home of breaking election news.   

In addition to the national campaign, itv.com/news will provide in-depth local coverage of the election, providing people the news and information they need to decide who gets their vote. 

ITV News Election Night 
As the polls close on 8th June, News at Ten’s Tom Bradby will take the chair on election night leading ITV’s coverage of the battle for Number 10. Tom be on air with the fastest results and the best analysis from an expert panel.  

He will be joined in the studio by two of the country’s leading psephologists: Professor Colin Rallings, ITV News’ election analyst for nearly 30 years; and Professor Jane Green, from Manchester University, one of the Directors of the British Election Study, an organisation which has been monitoring British election behaviour for more than 50 years. 

On election night, ITV regional news teams will be at all the main counts, bringing the latest news live to the overnight results programme.  

Expert analysis and reaction will be in high demand and ITV News will have the best commentators sharing their interpretation of the results as they happen – plus social media partners will chart how the election is being shared online. 

On June 9th, Good Morning Britain will be on air for an extended programme from 6am until 9.25am, hosted by Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan, with reporting from Ranvir Singh, Good Morning Britain’s Political Editor, who will be leading the coverage throughout the General Election Campaign.  

At 9.25am ITV News will be back on air throughout the morning of June 9th, with a live ITV News Special programme presented by Julie Etchingham. 

Julie will present the key developments and reaction to the results of the General Election 2017. She will be joined by leading politicians, political experts and key reporters from across the country analysing how the nation has voted and who will be the next occupant of Number Ten. 

Later that day, Mary Nightingale will be bringing ITV Evening News live from Downing Street, and Julie will anchor ITV News At Ten with analysis from Political Editor Robert Peston and key correspondents on what is sure to be a dramatic day in Westminster. 

Press contact: jenny.cummins@itv.com, laura.brander@itn.co.uk