Why is Boris Johnson reluctant to take part in TV debates and do they even matter?

Politics Explained: Televised clashes are a gamble for politicians, with many opportunities for carefully managed campaigns to fall apart

Boris Johnson has maintained a near complete media blackout since deciding to run for the Tory crown.

The Boris of old would have been all over the airwaves, leaving chaos in his wake and counting on a mixture of charm and chutzpah to see him through.

But Boris 2.0 is a different beast. In a sign of how seriously it takes the leadership race, his camp is keeping him well out of the spotlight in order to limit the chance for gaffes.

Apart from six questions from journalists at his campaign launch, Mr Johnson has only given one proper interview since the contest began in earnest.

The strategy appeared to be working, giving him a 71-vote lead over his nearest rival, Jeremy Hunt, in the first ballot of MPs.

But his competitors rightly mounted an attack on this approach, joining forces to pressure him into joining the live TV debates he appeared to have been trying to duck out of.

He has now agreed to appear in the BBC's televised clash next Tuesday, but at the time of writing he was refusing to take part in the six-person Channel 4 debate scheduled for this Sunday.

TV debates are a gamble for any politician, as there are so many opportunities for a carefully managed campaign to fall apart.

The prospect presents a particular conundrum for Mr Johnson, as the undoubted frontrunner in a still-crowded field.

He has the most to lose by appearing in one of these debates, as a bad performance could eat away at his popularity among MPs, when he would really rather stay quiet and sit on his lead.

Team Boris has likely calculated that the Channel 4's six-person debate is too much of a risk, as the five other candidates are likely to join forces against their man.

Whereas the BBC debate will take place after the second ballot of MPs on Tuesday, so it will be a smaller field.

These clashes can also create unexpected results.

The first live TV debates were held ahead of the 2010 general election, triggering a surge in support for Nick Clegg, the then Liberal Democrat leader.

"Cleggmania", as it was known, was seen as a factor in the party's electoral showing, and the formation of the coalition government.

In 2015, the field was widened to include other opposition parties, such as the UKIP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens.

When Nicola Sturgeon appeared in one of the debates, the SNP leader gave such an assured performance that some English people were disappointed to discover that her party did not field candidates south of the border.

Jeremy Corbyn won plaudits for his performance in the 2017 general election debate, which Theresa May refused to take part in as she was leading in the polls at the time.

Leadership contests are different to proper general elections, not least because the electorate is only some 160,000 Conservative party members.

But refusing to answer questions about their plan for government is a bad look for any would-be prime minister, especially if they are planning to enter Downing Street without seeking a fresh mandate from the public.

These contests can also turn on a knife edge.

It is easy to forget that David Davies was once a shoo-in to be Tory leader, before an outsider called David Cameron stole his crown.

Or that Andrea Leadsom might have ended up in No 10 if she had not given a fateful interview to The Times in 2016 where she claimed being a mother gave her a greater stake in the country's future than her rival, Ms May.

Ms May felt it was safer to skip the 2017 debate, rather than risk losing her poll lead but she paid for it later, when it became the foundation of a reputation for being remote and robotic.

Mr Johnson would do well to learn from her experience.