The first midweek episode of Peston on ITV won the late-night ratings battle against Newsnight on Wednesday, with the editor of the rival BBC show saying she “welcomes the competition”.

ITV political editor Robert Peston’s current affairs show Peston on Sunday has moved to midweek after ratings its Sunday evening repeat were regularly double than those for its live broadcast at 10am.

The evening repeat would reach about 600,000 viewers.