±«Óãtv

The ±«Óãtv sets out its initial plans for the forthcoming General Election. The ±«Óãtv will help the public examine the policies and manifestos of all the political parties across the UK through comprehensive and impartial coverage of the 2010 General Election.

There will be debates, analysis and special programming across TV and radio, and the ±«Óãtv's extensive Election 2010 website will provide in-depth, easily accessible and up-to-date information on all policies and constituencies.

The daily press conferences and visits will be broadcast live on the News Channel with expert analysis and interviews.

In addition, the nine departmental Daily Politics Election Debates will see top politicians go head to head debating their manifesto promises, and the ±«Óãtv plans to interview the main party leaders across TV and radio output.

The ±«Óãtv's leading presenters and specialist editors will all play prominent roles throughout the election campaign.

Jeremy Paxman will grill the leading politicians on Newsnight with additional shows planned for Saturdays; Nick Robinson will follow the party leaders across the UK; the Today team will be presenting from across the country; and David Dimbleby, together with his usual Question Time responsibilities, will chair the ±«Óãtv's Prime Ministerial Debate as well as the election night coverage.

On election night, the ±«Óãtv will deliver the most comprehensive coverage of any broadcaster. The ±«Óãtv will be at every single count, providing comprehensive results coverage for the ±«Óãtv TV and radio, for local programmes, and for the election website.

On ±«Óãtv One, David Dimbleby will host the Election Night programme, joined by Jeremy Paxman, Nick Robinson and Jeremy Vine and the new-look Swingometer. Emily Maitlis and Peter Kellner will look at the seat-by-seat detail of how Britain has voted, and Fiona Bruce will provide regular news updates. Andrew Neil will play host to the great and the good to watch the results come in, with live, on-the-spot interviews.

James Naughtie and Carolyn Quinn will present Radio 4's Election Special.

The ±«Óãtv's election coverage will give audiences opportunities to engage with politicians directly and express their opinions on a range of platforms at the local and regional debates and radio phone-ins, via Twitter, Facebook and user-generated content, and as audience members on Newsnight's special Saturday programmes, various radio debates, Question Time and the Prime Ministerial debate.

The election will also be covered on C±«Óãtv's Newsround and Radio 1's Newsbeat, which will debate issues that matter to younger audiences, and the Bafta-winning children's series Election is back for a General Election special, broadcast on ±«Óãtv One and C±«Óãtv.

The ±«Óãtv Asian Network is also planning on publishing the results of one of the biggest surveys of Asian voters ever undertaken in the UK.

Building on the ±«Óãtv Three trail reminding viewers to register in time to vote in the election, the ±«Óãtv's Business Editor Robert Peston will explain in a 60-second film how to vote, which will be shown during the campaign on the channel.

The home of the ±«Óãtv's election coverage online – bbc.co.uk/election – will provide up-to-date coverage and in-depth guides. A constituency tracker will allow users to set a constituency as their own to get the latest news and results from it whenever they visit the site.

There will also be a mobile mini-site, providing up-to-date campaign news, and Digital Election correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones will be assessing how big a part new social media tools and technology are playing in the campaign.

The ±«Óãtv's Nations and Regions teams will provide comprehensive coverage on local, regional and devolved issues on TV, radio and online.

Across England, there will be regional television and local radio station debates, and the ±«Óãtv will hold party leader election debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Helen Boaden, Director of ±«Óãtv News, said: "With the polls indicating this could be the closest election in decades, the ±«Óãtv's coverage will be vital in helping the public compare and analyse the policies and choices provided by the parties and candidates standing for election. Our coverage will be clear, authoritative and, most importantly, impartial."

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