The second televised duel in the race to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been broken off after an incident. Shortly before, a loud crack could be heard in the TV studio.
The incident took place while Secretary of State and Women’s Affairs Liz Truss was speaking about the war in Ukraine. “Oh, my God,” the politician interrupted herself and put her hands in front of her face in shock. What was happening in the television studio at that moment could not be seen on the broadcast recordings. Truss then walked out of the frame. The TalkTV broadcaster interrupted the broadcast of the debate.
The “Disoclose.tv” portal published the corresponding sequence on Twitter:
A few minutes later, TalkTV announced more background to the incident. Presenter Kate McCann passed out during the show, the broadcaster said on Twitter. “Although she is doing well, the medical advice was that we should not continue the debate.” Liz Truss and her opponent Rishi Sunak are doing well. “It wasn’t a safety issue, it was a medical one.” TalkTV asked viewers for understanding. Many of them took to social media to express their wishes for McCann’s recovery.
The debate on TalkTV (in cooperation with the newspaper “The Sun”) was the second of its kind. On Monday evening, Truss and Sunak exchanged blows on the BBC. In the first polls, a majority of viewers rated Liz Truss as the winner of the duel. Another television duel is to follow, and the candidates will also appear four more times in front of members of the conservative party. The result of the internal party vote on the successor to Boris Johnson is expected on September 5th. A nationwide re-election of the prime minister is not mandatory.
Sources: “Disclose.tv” on Twitter, Talk.TV on Twitter, DPA news agency