If you’re going to have seven parties in the TV debates, you’ve got to include the DUP

Having seven parties in two of the TV debates, as the broadcasters are reportedly proposing, is an admission that what matters is not whether the party will provide the Prime Minister but whether it might have influence in a hung parliament. On this basis, there is no justification for excluding the DUP.

The DUP currently have eight seats in the Commons, more than Plaid Cymru, Ukip and the Greens put together. Even after the next election, the DUP are likely to have more MPs than any of these parties. It is baffling that the broadcasters have ended up concluding that Plaid Cymru, who have fewer MPs than the DUP and also only stand in one part of the United Kingdom, deserve an invitation but the DUP don’t.

The DUP’s advantage in terms of seats means that they will have more influence in a hung parliament than these other minor parties and so, if this is the criteria for inclusion, voters should be able to hear both what they want and how far the major parties will go to accommodate their demands.