ITV debate: Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer slated for talking over host Julie Etchingham and each other – as she tells them off in punchy head-to-head general election face off

Rishi Sunak And Keir Starmer are scheduled to talk about host Julie Etchingham and each other – as she tells them off in a snappy way ITV debate.

The political leaders were repeatedly reprimanded in an increasingly bad-tempered show as they battled it out in the first direct election battle, just as they fought it out on national television.

Both the Prime Minister and the Work chief spoke about each other and the ITV newsreader’s attempts to keep order.

And the show descended into chaos as Mrs Etchingham repeatedly shouted ‘thank you’ in an attempt to get everyone to answer the questions.

In one particularly tense moment, as the pair argued about immigration, she raged: ‘Rishi Sunak, can we just please! Please, gentlemen! We will lower our voices.”

Sunak and Starmer infuriated their viewers as social media users repeatedly criticized them in their attempts to win their argument by ‘shouting louder’.

Commenting on the couple’s repeated attempts to keep things straight, media commentator Scott Bryan wrote: ‘OK THANK YOU THANK YOU OK THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU’.

The political leaders were repeatedly reprimanded in an increasingly ill-tempered show as they battled it out in the first head-to-head election battle, as they battled it out on national television

And the show descended into chaos as Mrs Etchingham repeatedly shouted ‘thank you’ in an attempt to get everyone to answer the questions.

Another laughed: ‘Light them Jules.’

A third, Dawn Roberts, fumed: “Both sound like spoiled rich schoolchildren with no manners.”

Sarah Hill said: ‘Sunak keeps shouting about her and Starmer, he is very rude.’

And maths teacher Hannah added: ‘Rishi is so rude. I’m out of teacher hackles.

‘Stop talking about people; You don’t win an argument by shouting louder.’

Ms Etchingham had warned the pair to stick to the 45-second rule per question, but was repeatedly forced to shorten the politicians’ answers.

After a conversation, she said to them: ‘Please, an appeal from me not to talk over each other. We want to make sure everyone can hear what you’re saying.”

“Thanks, not over each other,” she said later.

“Gentlemen, please, we’re going to take a break.”

After a commercial break, the presenter warned them: ‘Just some information for both of our candidates here, please, an appeal from me not to talk over each other.

‘We want to make sure everyone can hear what you’re saying.

“That was a gentle reminder, next time it might not be so gentle.”

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer tonight kicked off a crucial election debate – as an apocalyptic poll underlined the stakes for the Tories

Mr Sunak said it was a choice between him and Sir Keir for Number 10, saying his opponent would ‘raise your taxes and plunder your pensions’.

But others said political leaders were given too much freedom as they fought to get as much time as possible to complain about their opponent.

Sport Wales deputy director Owen Hathway criticized the moderation of the debate and the repeated interruptions.

He said: ‘This debate is absolutely terrible. The moderation is terrible. The time to answer and the space to answer are terrible. The constant interruptions are terrible.

‘Everything is terrible. I have no confidence that it will help even one voter make a choice.”

Another, Steve Cole, said: ‘Julie, please pick up on this and don’t let them talk about you.’

And Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy said: ‘The artificial time restrictions are already annoying.

“These debates should last 90 minutes to two hours and allow people to finish a sentence.”

Leaders crossed swords over immigration, with Mr Sunak arguing that the Rwanda policy could help stop small boats. When Sir Keir called it an “expensive gimmick”, Mr Sunak shot back: “You may not like it but I have a plan.”

Leaders crossed swords over immigration, with Mr Sunak arguing Rwanda policy could help stop small boats

Mr Sunak faced more murmurs from the crowd as he said the health service had been hit by ‘industrial action’

Sir Keir also taunted the Tory leader for being the ‘most liberal’ Prime Minister as legal net immigration is at record levels – with the latest figures at 685,000 a year.

There were groans from the audience when Mr Sunak was challenged about NHS waiting lists, claiming they were ‘disappearing’. “They come down when they were higher,” he said.

Mr Sunak faced more murmurs from the crowd as he said the health service had been hit by “industrial action”. “So you’re blaming someone else,” Sir Keir shot back.

The stakes for the Prime Minister have been underlined by major research from Survation showing that Labor is on course for the largest majority in modern political history with 324 seats – compared to Tony Blair’s margin of 179.

The survey – carried out using the so-called MRP technique – predicted that the number of Conservatives would be reduced to just 71 MPs.

Mr Sunak would barely manage to hold on to his own constituency in Richmond and Northallerton. It also suggested Reform could win three, as Nigel Farage launches his bombshell bid to win a constituency.