An empty podium was reserved for Boris Johnson after he refused to take part in a live TV debate this evening.

The frontrunner was nowhere to be seen as his five rivals Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid and Rory Stewart took to the stage for the Channel 4 leadership debate.

Host Krishnan Guru-Murthy said Johnson declined an invitation but was ‘welcome’ to join at any point.

The spot was left conspicuously placed between Javid and Raab.

His appearances since he entered the leadership contest have been few and Johnson has been accused of hiding from the public.

Asked about Johnson’s non-appearance at the debate, Stewart said ahead of the 6.30pm kick off: ‘We’re choosing a prime minister and the public has the right to hear from us and judge who had the qualities to be prime minister.’

He also said he was ‘disappointed’ and hoped Johnson would make a ‘last-minute appearance’.

One source dismissed suggestions negotiations with the MP had broken down and told the Guardian: ‘It’s classic deflection; all the negotiations were very cordial. The reason he didn’t want to do it is because the format meant he would have to debate with the others.’

Tory hopeful Stewart appeared on the Andrew Marr show this morning to say there is a ‘problem of trust’ with Johnson.

He said: ‘Who do you trust to be your prime minister? How is Boris going to deliver Brexit?

‘He keeps saying “I am going to deliver it.” I don’t even know what he believes.

‘He won’t talk to me. He won’t talk to you. He won’t talk to the public.

‘We want to know what he believes. The real problem with politics is a problem of trust.’

This comes after Johnson won one third of the votes in the first ballot of the Tory leadership race last week.

The former foreign secretary was backed by 114 Tory MPs.

Mark Harper, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey all failed to get the 17 votes required and were automatically kicked out of the contest.

At least one more candidate is expected to fall out of the race on Tuesday in the second round of voting.

Contenders will be needing 33 votes to stay in the race, which only Johnson, Hunt and Gove managed to get last round.

Who is running to be prime minister?

Boris Johnson

The leadership frontrunner said Britain must leave the EU by October 31, regardless of whether it had been able to negotiate a fresh deal with Brussels.

He insisted he did not want a no-deal but said it was essential that the Government prepared for that eventuality as a ‘last resort’.

He cited his record as mayor of London, when he combined policies promoting social justice with support for business and financial services.

Sajid Javid

The Home secretary insisted he could change the image of the Tories across the country as he stressed his humble background as the son of an immigrant.

He said it was time to follow the Scottish Tories and ‘leave the short term comfort zone and throw out central casting’ by picking somebody different.

Mr Javid said the UK must prepare for a no deal, but insisted he could get an agreement through Parliament by October 31.

Branding Mr Johnson as ‘yesterday’s news’, Mr Javid said voters wanted to hear the Tories talk about more than Brexit

Michael Gove

One of the leaders of the Vote Leave campaign, he said Brexit was an ‘unashamedly personal’ matter for him, although he would be prepared to delay beyond October 31 if negotiations were making progress.

Following the disclosure he took cocaine before entering politics, he sought to get his campaign back on track, taunting his rival and sometime ally Boris Johnson for pulling out of the last leadership contest.

The Environment Secretary said he would scrap VAT and replace it with a lower and simpler sales tax.

Jeremy Hunt

The Foreign Secretary said he was a ‘serious leader’ for a ‘serious moment’ in the country’s history.

He warned the Tories would be ‘annihilated’ if they fought a general election without first delivering Brexit.

He said would be prepared to leave the EU without a deal, but signalled he could extend Brexit beyond October 31 if an agreement was in sight.

Dominic Raab

The former Brexit secretary said he was the ‘conviction Brexiteer’ with the ‘discipline and focus’ to get Britain out of the EU by October 31.

In what was seen as a sideswipe at Boris Johnson, he said ‘bluff and bluster’ would not deliver and refused to rule out suspending Parliament to get Brexit through.

On domestic policy, he said he would raise the employee’s national insurance threshold to ‘take the lowest paid out of payroll taxes altogether’.

Rory Stewart

The International Development Secretary issued a vigorous warning against a no-deal Brexit, accusing proponents of peddling ‘fairy stories’.

He said that if MPs were unable agree a way forward he could appoint a ‘grand jury of citizens’ to sit for three weeks to come up with a solution.

His launch included a strong personal attack on Boris Johnson, questioning whether he was the right person to take charge of Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

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