Nigel Farage's BBC leaders' debate absence explained amid Putin comment fallout

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will tonight go head-to-head in the final leaders' debate of the campaign but Reform UK leader Nigel Farage will be noticeably absent.

The Tory and Labour leaders will hope to persuade voters when they directly face each other tonight during the 75-minute debate at Nottingham Trent University. Mishal Husain will act as referee and will aim to steer the debate around a number of subjects important to the British public.

But there will be many viewers who will be wondering where other party leaders are, including Mr Farage. The Reform UK leader made a shock return to the frontline of UK politics after initially ruling himself out of the campaign.

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak have previously engaged in debates where they were the only leaders who were invited

He has since announced himself as a candidate in the Essex town of Clacton-on-Sea and has eaten into the Conservative vote share. Several polls have since put Reform UK ahead of the Tories, leading to Mr Farage to style his party as the true opposition to Labour.

In a June 18 post uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, Mr Farage noted Reform UK's rise in the opinion polls and demanded to be included in tonight's debate. He said: "We must now be included in the head-to-head debate with Sunak and Starmer on June 26th."

The Tory and Labour leaders have previously engaged in debates where they were the only leaders who were invited. Mr Starmer and Mr Sunak lead the largest parties in Parliament and traditionally the Conservatives and Labour have been able to form governments that command a majority in the House of Commons.

Despite Reform UK rising as a threat to the Tories in multiple polls, the party is only predicted to win a handful of seat or none depending on the survey. This effectively rules Mr Farage out from being able to lead a majority government on July 5.

In other areas, however, the BBC has given more coverage to Mr Farage's party given its rise in popularity. It announced an additional Question Time Leaders' Special including Reform UK, as well as changed the time of a Panorama interview. The broadcaster said: "This added programme, and the changed peak-time scheduling slot for the Panorama interview, reflects the fact that it is clear from across a broad range of opinion polls that the support for Reform UK has been growing."

It comes as the Reform UK leader has come under criticism from both sides of the political aisle after he was accused of taking a friendly stance towards Russia and its president Vladimir Putin. While being grilled by the BBC's Nick Robinson last week Mr Farage said Western leaders had provoked Russia into attacking Ukraine.

Mr Farage, who denied being a support of Putin said during the interview: "We provoked this war. It’s – you know, of course it’s his [Putin's] fault, he’s used what we’ve done as an excuse." Labour leader Mr Starmer and Mr Sunak were among those who blasted Mr Farage over his claim.

Tonight's BBC leaders' debate between Mr Starmer and Mr Sunak will be held at Nottingham Trent University and will be aired on BBC One tonight from 8:15pm.