TORY leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak has agreed to be interviewed by political journalist Andrew Neil while his opponent Liz Truss has so far declined, Channel 4 has confirmed.
The former chancellor will be grilled live at 7.30pm on Friday where Neil hosts a weekly politics programme having left both the BBC and GB News.
In a dig at his rival, Sunak tweeted: “Just me then?” with a winking emoji.
Boris Johnson previously came under scrutiny during the 2019 general election campaign when he refused to be interviewed by Neil.
The Prime Minister was accused of “running scared” from an interview on the BBC and was further criticised for sending Sunak to take his place in a live televised debate.
However, Neil did interview Johnson when he went head to head with Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Tory leadership contest
Channel 4 hosted the first televised debate in the current Tory leadership race nine days ago, which saw more than two million people tuning in to see a series of bruising exchanges between the then-five contenders.
Just me then? 😉 https://t.co/G1Kosx4GFA
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 25, 2022
Sunak and Truss are set for debates on the BBC and TalkTV on Monday and Tuesday night respectively.
Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs and specialist factual and sport at Channel 4, said: “After the success of our first audience debate we’re delighted that Rishi Sunak has confirmed he will be interviewed by Andrew Neil on Channel 4.
“We hope that Liz Truss also now agrees – and allows the British public to better understand what she stands for.”
Sunak has pledged to proceed with the sale of Channel 4 if he succeeds Johnson as prime minister – saying privatisation would help the broadcaster compete with streaming giants.
Sunday night politics programme The Andrew Neil Show was recommissioned for a second series by Channel 4 earlier this month, after launching as a 10-part series in May, airing weekly at 6pm.
Neil’s career as a political presenter and interviewer has spanned three decades, and he is the chairman and editor-in-chief of Press Holdings Media Group, publishers of The Spectator and other related titles.
He stepped down as the chairman of GB News last year, also quitting his prime-time show on the network.
Neil is a former Sunday Times editor and was one of the BBC’s top political broadcasters for many years, presenting This Week, Daily Politics and BBC One’s Sunday Politics.
During his career Neil has interviewed world leaders including Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.
