A live debate between five Scottish party leaders is to be shown on STV, as the first week of formal election campaigning kicks off at the end of March.

The debate will feature SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, the Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Willie Rennie, leader of the Liberal Democrats, and co-convener of the Greens, Patrick Harvie.

It will be held at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Tuesday March 29, following the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament on March 23, and the beginning of the purdah, or pre-election period on March 24.

The debate, which will be chaired by STV political editor Bernard Ponsonby, will take place in front of an audience comprising a representative sample of the Scottish electorate, picked in conjunction with polling firm Ipsos MORI.