Sky News has announced its coverage plans for the 2024 general election after Rishi Sunak surprised the nation by saying the public will go to the polls on 4 July.
Chief Presenter Kay Burley will anchor Election Night Live, the overnight results programme, from a 360-degree immersive studio normally used by Sky Sports shows like Monday Night Football.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and a former Labour MP, will provide guest analysis alongside the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Baroness Ruth Davidson.
Burley, who will be covering her twelfth UK general election, will also be joined by Sky News’ award-winning political editor Beth Rigby, the presenter of our Sunday breakfast show Sir Trevor Phillips, and data and economics editor Ed Conway.
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Conway will be examining live election data on the massive canvas of the studio’s LED floor and walls, giving pioneering analysis that will dig into the facts and figures.
The Sky News team will take viewers through the key results on the night, making use of this new technology to explain the polling data from every angle, offering viewers the full story on the night.
Plus, the exit poll and winner of the race for Number 10 will be revealed with the help of an immersive to-scale augmented reality Downing Street.
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Elections analyst Professor Michael Thrasher will be on hand to offer statistical analysis of the election for Sky News – as he has at every election since 1989.
From 7am on the morning after the nationwide voting, lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, host of Sky’s Politics Hub, will be live from Westminster bringing viewers every development as the election result is absorbed and plans for the next government are made.
Ridge will be joined by deputy political editor Sam Coates and Sky News contributor Adam Boulton across what will be an historic day, as the nation awaits the next prime minister.
Sky News’ audience will be the first to find out what’s really happening – with our reporters and cameras at election counts up and down the UK revealing the dramatic results and hearing from candidates from across the political spectrum.
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More details on Sky News’ election night and campaign coverage, podcasts and special programming will be revealed in the days and weeks ahead.
Kay Burley, chief presenter, said: “This will be my twelfth UK general election. I’m as committed to top-rate, fast, accurate coverage in 2024 as I was when Margaret Thatcher became PM in 1979.”
Mr Burnham said: “I’m very much looking forward to joining the Sky team for the general election night coverage. It will be a different experience for me to be able to join the analysis of the results rather than just worrying about my own. Having been involved in the 1997 general election at Labour HQ and then as a minister in later elections, I hope to be able to bring a fresh view of what will face an incoming government.”
Baroness Davidson said: “Every election night is made up of a number of different stories. What happens in Scotland is undoubtedly going to be one of them. Over a decade on the political frontline north of the border means I’ll be able to analyse and interpret the results as they come in for viewers right across the UK.”
David Rhodes, executive chairman of Sky News, said: “We saw a tremendous response to our coverage of this month’s local elections – and we’ll have much, much more to offer at this UK general election, with the most experienced team, plus the most comprehensive data and analysis, presented online and on TV from the most state-of-the-art studio in the country.
“Our political team is the best in the business – Kay, Sophy, Beth, Trevor, Ed, Sam, and more are ready to bring audiences the full story, first.”
