Here’s What All The UK's Major TV Channels Have Got Planned For Election Night
As the UK heads to the polls today for the general election, TV programming will be dominated by political coverage for the next 24 hours.
Whether you’re planning to keep up with every update throughout the night or you’re just looking for those key updates, all the major news channels will be hosting round-the-clock coverage until we find out who will be the next prime minister of the UK.
Fortunately, you won’t be short of updates, analysis and interviews in the meantime.
Read on for all the 2024 election programming across the major TV channels...
BBC News
News anchor Clive Myrie and political reporter Laura Kuenssberg will be leading the BBC’s election night coverage, and will be joined by several other presenters throughout the night.
You can also expect additional commentary from Jeremy Vine, Fiona Bruce, Victoria Derbyshire, Naga Munchetty and many more.
BBC News coverage will be live on BBC One from 9:55pm on Thursday night to 4:30pm on Friday afternoon (after which it will switch to Wimbledon coverage), as well as the BBC News channel and the dedicated Election 2024 livestream on BBC iPlayer.
ITV
ITV News staple Tom Bradby will be leading ITV’s election coverage throughout the night for Election 2024 Live: The Results.
He’ll also be joined throughout by political figures likeGeorge Osborne, Ed Balls and Nicola Sturgeon.
From 6am the next day, Good Morning Britain will air with both Susanna Reid and Ed Balls co-anchoring.
Following this, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women have all been axed for the day to make room for Election 2024 Live: The Results, fronted by Julie Etchingham.
Channel 4
Channel 4 will air Britain Decides With The Rest Is Politics And Gogglebox from 9.45pm on 4 July until 9am the following morning, which makes it the longest continuous programme on Election Night.
The curiously-titled show will be presented by Krishnan Guru-MurthyandEmily Maitlis, with guests including Hannah Fry and The Rest is Politics podcast hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart – along with live “hot takes” from Gogglebox favourites including Simon and Jane Minty.
There will also be appearances from politicians including Conservative former Chancellors Kwasi Kwarteng and Nadim Zahawi, Labour’s Harriet Harman, ex-Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and Reform Party campaigner Ann Widdecombe.
Sky News
Sky News will be presenting snapshots from polling throughout Thursday, while anchor Kay Burley will lead Election Night Live from 9pm on Thursday night into Friday morning.
Confirmed guests include mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Ruth Davidson, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives.
From 7am on Friday, presenter Sophy Ridge will then be live from Westminster to offer the latest updates.
CNN
Richard Quest and Isa Soares will lead CNN International’s coverage of the general election from the US network’s London studio, starting at 9:55pm BST on Thursday just as the polls are about to close.
As results come in on Friday, Max Foster will take over as anchor from outside the Houses of Parliament, while Nic Robertson will report live from Downing Street.
Channel 5
Interestingly, Channel 5 doesn’t seem to be planning a special election show, instead sticking to its usual planned programming on Thursday night, including the Fast & Furious film Hobbs & Shaw, a documentary about Only Fools And Horses and a new episode of Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out.
However, you can expect plenty of commentary from Jeremy Vine and his guests on Friday’s edition of his topical panel show.