LONDON, 4^th April 2012: On Thursday 19^th April Sky News will host a live London Mayoral debate from the heart of the City ahead of the election on 3^rd May. The debate will take place between the three major party candidates; Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick, who will take questions from an audience of 250 Londoners and viewers watching live.

Titled ‘The London Debate’ and hosted by Sky News Presenter Anna Botting, the one hour debate will be broadcast live at 8pm from Heron Tower in the City. It will be town hall in setup, with opening and closing comments from each of the candidates.

Following the debate there will be an hour-long programme  that will review and analyse the performance of each of the participants. Anna will be joined by Gillian Joseph, who will glean the reaction of the other mayoral candidates, eminent Londoners, high-profile journalists and VIPs also in the audience.

Chris Birkett, Executive Editor of Sky News, commented: ‘This will be an exciting debate where the audience will have the chance to ask the candidates about the issues affecting them personally as London residents. It will be a high profile opportunity for the candidates to convince the public why they should occupy City Hall for the next four years. As we know, live debates can often see the strongest of performers falter, meaning this debate will play a major part in their campaigns.’

The debate is open to London residents over the age of 18 who can apply for a space via www.skynews.com/thelondondebate. Here they will also be asked to submit their question to the candidates. Members of the public can also submit questions via the Sky News Facebook page and on Twitter by tagging their question with #skylondondebate

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Notes to editor

For further information and images, please contact:

Lucy Ellison – lucy.ellison@bskyb.com /07855 851617 or

Nicola Wood – nicola.wood2@bskyb.com / 020 7032 2110