The report Broadcast General Election Debates (HL 171) examines the potential for debates between party leaders to be broadcast in the lead up to the General Election in 2015. Political jockeying over the debates risks a return to the historical pattern of failure to ensure the debates reach our screens. The Committee concludes that this would be regrettable in light of powerful evidence that the public expects the debates to happen again, following those broadcast in 2010. Research shows that the debates helped to energize and engage the public in the electoral process, with the most striking impact on the young and relatively disengaged. Speculation over who can participate in the debates is sometimes misinformed. A proper account of the legal and regulatory framework around broadcasting is important in answering some of the questions which have been raised about who can participate and the way the broadcasters reach this judgment.