Liz Truss has been accused of “avoiding scrutiny” after she pulled out of an interview with Nick Robinson the day before it was due to be broadcast.
Today programme presenter Robinson said he was “disappointed and frustrated” after Truss claimed she no longer had time to be grilled by him.
The half-hour interview had been due to be broadcast at 7pm tomorrow night.
Robinson interviewed Truss’s rival, Rishi Sunak, earlier in the campaign.
Announcing the cancellation, the BBC said: “Ms Truss’ team say she can no longer spare the time to appear on “Our Next Prime Minister”.
“The other candidate for the Conservative leadership, Rishi Sunak, was interviewed by Nick on 10th August.
“We regret that it has not been possible to do an in depth interview with both candidates despite having reached agreement to do so.”
Reacting on Twitter, former BBC political editor Robinson said: “Was pleased to secure an in-depth interview with Liz Truss on BBC1. I am disappointed & frustrated it’s been cancelled.”
Truss’s campaign team did not respond to requests for comment.
A source close to Sunak told HuffPost UK: “It’s important that candidates face proper scrutiny so that members and the public know what they are offering.
“Avoiding that scrutiny suggests either Truss doesn’t have a plan at all or the plan she has falls far short of the challenges we face this winter.”
Unlike Sunak, Truss has already turned down the chance to be interviewed by feared interrogator Andrew Neil on Channel 4.
Sunak’s campaign said their man had done nine one-to-one broadcast interviews during the leadership campaign, compared to Truss’s two.
Labour’s Conor McGinn said: “The British public don’t get a say in choosing the next Tory Prime Minister and now it seems Liz Truss wants to avoid any public scrutiny whatsoever.
“People will rightly conclude that she doesn’t want to answer questions about her plans for the country because she simply hasn’t got any serious answers to the big challenges facing our country.”