A NEW campaign has been launched to solve the televised party leaders debates problem for good.

I have written in my Fair Point column in the past about the importance of the leaders’ debates in the run up to general elections.

After the success of 2010 debates when David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg went head-to-head, many thought that would be the turning point. But in the two general elections since, in 2015 and 2017, debates didn’t happen despite endless negotiations.

In last year’s election the closest we came was a seven-way general election debate between party leaders. But crucially Prime Minister Theresa May did not turn up.

Sky News has now launched a campaign calling for an independent commission to organise the TV debates, taking the decision-making process out of the hands of political parties and which would ultimate result in leaders having to show.

This is just so overdue. The fact we are even in this position is ridiculous, when you consider the US Presidential debates have been a regular fixture of American politics since 1987, and leader debates are common throughout the world.

The bottom line is debates are vital and we have come to expect them here. If you choose to put yourself in a position where you wish to become Prime Minister - you should be accountable to the electorate, and debates provide the perfect platform for that. In an era of social media, spin and fake news, the simple head-to-head debate is the way to cut through all that, and hear directly from the leaders.

People criticised the 2010 debates as being like a circus, dominating the campaign to the point nothing else was being talked about. In reality the reason for this was because the debate was a new thing people were not used to. If leaders debates are held each time, they will just become normal and part of the run up to a general election.

With so much uncertainty now, and every chance there could be general election well before the next scheduled one in 2022, this is the perfect time to solve this issue. Leaving it to just before an election has proved it doesn’t work, with Prime Ministers and leaders not wanting to take part fearing it could damage them. Take it out of their hands, and solve this problem now.