We held a live election debate for Wiltshire
You can catch up here or listen back on BBC Radio Wiltshire
Candidates from the main parties took part ahead of the poll for 98 seats across the county
That's about it from our Wiltshire live election debate.
We've been dismantling our debate studio.
Goodbye and thanks for joining us this morning.
The debate studio has been dismantled - but you can listen and watch back
If you missed any part of the debate and want to watch it again, you can do.
Click play below. Alternatively, it's also available in audio form on BBC Sounds.
In the quickfire round, we asked the candidates about one idea to help solve Salisbury's traffic issues - a congestion charge. Would they consider it?
Richard Clewer, Conservatives
"No, but we do need highways to improve the A36 and preferably build a bypass."
Declan Baseley, Greens
He says he is not entirely against the idea and referenced where they have been used elsewhere but adds "I don't think we're quite there yet".
Jon Fisher, Labour
It is a no from him as well, but he says "we do need to address the traffic issues".
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
"No I think it would be disastrous for the community and for local business."
Edward Kirk, Reform
"Definite no. It will affect business."
Listener Michelle, from Warminster, says: "I just feel unsure, very unsure, of what's going on. [I] don't know who to trust."
Meanwhile Robin Imeson, co-founder of youth charity Rise:61, says he doesn't think politics has represented people from council estates and working class areas "very well".
So what needs to change for politicians to regain trust? And what would these candidates do about it?
Declan Baseley, Greens
"I think people will trust politicians again when they feel they are paying a fair amount for adequate services," says Mr Baseley.
"Ultimately people build trust by actually being there to represent their communities," he adds.
"I think people respond well to... actually seeing people that are visible."
Edward Kirk, Reform
Mr Kirk says Reform is "not bringing politicians, it's bringing normal people with common sense into the political arena".
"I left the [Conservatives] political group because of the system," he adds.
He says he believes "portfolio positions" need to be removed.
Richard Clewer, Conservatives
Mr Clewer does not feel portfolio holders "erode trust".
"If you're running a large council like Wiltshire Council, you need people who are able to put in a huge amount of work to make a council like that function."
He said councillor wages mean "often people need to be independently wealthy or retired to be able to put the time in".
But he says to build trust again, "we've got to get back to being honest with people".
Jon Fisher, Labour
What I see is "people stepping up, people doing the hard work", he says of local councillors.
"We do have to acknowledge that trust has fallen," he says, blaming social media and "keyboard warriors" for posting "horrendous things" about candidates.
"I think it should be part of an elected official's role... that you should have to engage properly with your community," Mr Fisher adds.
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
"When you say what you're going to do and you do it," is the most important thing you can ever do as a councillor, says Mr Thorn.
"In terms of diversity, I think there's a huge amount that we need to do," he adds.
"As an authority, we should be spending a lot more time engaging with our communities... trying to understand who we can encourage and engage and get involved to be candidates."
Some BBC Radio Wiltshire listeners say the lack of affordable housing in the county is a big issue for them, as well as feeling like there is not enough infrastructure to support new housing developments.
This is what the candidates had to say on the topic:
Edward Kirk, Reform
He says developers do "what works for them and their shareholders".
"We do need community-led decisions on where houses go, but primarily, at the moment, the developers run the show, and that has to stop."
"There's so many limitations [centrally] on what we can actually do and that holds us back," he adds.
Jon Fisher, Labour
He said he supports the government's national targets but says "it's absolutely about building the right homes in the right places".
He says building 500 council homes a year is "completely viable" and "completely doable".
He said it is also important to ensure 40% of new developments "is actually given to social housing".
Richard Clewer, Conservatives
Responding to Mr Fisher, he says: "You're on a different planet if you think central government funding will [fund 500 council houses in the county per year]."
He says more than 1,200 in total are being built locally, but many are being funded locally.
"The system is completely stacked against councils," adds Mr Clewer.
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
He says he does not support the government's house building targets.
"I think it's wholly unrealistic," he says.
"There are significant numbers of developments that nobody's asked for [in Wiltshire].
"What we need to do is ensure we have a local plan that is defensible."
Declan Baseley, Greens
He said the number of homes planned is "too high".
"We obviously do need new houses but they need to expand at a rate that only fits our growing population.
"We don't want to have the greenbelts of our countryside littered with endless three to four-bedroom developments."
He called it an "affordability" crisis, with more smaller homes and homes in town centres needed.
Wiltshire Council currently aims to be net zero by 2030. If achieved, it would mean the council no longer adds to the total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Do the candidates back this? We asked them for a quickfire answer.
Declan Baseley, Greens
"People won't be surprised to hear me say yes to this."
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
"Absolutely."
Jon Fisher, Labour
"100% yes."
Richard Clewer, Conservative
"As a council, we're going to hit it. As a county, much harder."
Edward Kirk, Reform
"I don't think it's achievable and I don't think it's value for money."
Conservative Mr Clewer then argued it is value for money and has already saved cash - but Mr Kirk called it an "arbitrary target".
Edward Kirk is standing for Reform
Jon Fisher is standing for Labour
Richard Clewer is speaking for the Conservatives
Ian Thorn is with the Lib Dems
Declan Baseley is from the Greens
The independents
Across Wiltshire, 18 candidates describe themselves as independent. While none are tied to a political party, sometimes independent candidates join together to give themselves a bigger voice on council business.
Ahead of the debate, Dan O'Brien asked the leader of that group, longstanding councillor Ernie Clark, what independent candidates bring to the table that political parties don't.
“We’re local people dealing with local issues, getting local solutions to them," he said.
"I’m not aware of any independents who don’t stand for the division they live in.
"We're known to the people and we care about the area we live in. We’re not just sort of shipped in by a political party to make the numbers up."
He added being independent "doesn't exclude you from taking part in wider political decisions".
"The fact that we're independent doesn't mean we don't get involved in bigger items, it's just that we can take our own views and not just trot the party line," he added.
Ernie Clark is one of the longstanding independent councillors in Wiltshire
Plans to build a two-mile tunnel near to Stonehenge have been scrapped by the government - so what could the other solutions be?
We asked the candidates for a quickfire answer.
Jon Fisher, Labour
He said traffic is a problem but also "an issue throughout the county".
He also mentioned a road in Calne reopening recently to help ease traffic issues.
Edward Kirk, Reform
He says he sees this as a highways issue and out of the council's hands.
"We can listen, but we can't do much," he says.
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
He says "the current situation is utterly, utterly unacceptable" and adds other solutions were put forward at the public inquiry that need looking into "seriously".
Declan Baseley, Greens
He sees the solution as public transport.
"Better public transport always leads to less congestion on roads," he says.
"Ultimately less cars clogging up roads."
Richard Clewer, Conservatives
He says he has spoken to local communities in the area, adding: "We have got to lobby government to get this [the tunnel] back on the table."
He says it is the only solution that fits with the world heritage site.
Listener Susan asks how candidates will sort out the cash for all the things that need funding, including adult social care.
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
He says his focus will be on ensuring people are treated with "dignity" while being "cautious and careful with money".
"We need a proper settlement from central government," he adds, referring to the ageing population in the county.
He says funding for adult social care needs to be settled by central government because local councils cannot afford it.
Edward Kirk, Reform
"Taxes are high enough as they are. We can’t put any more burden on the residents of Wiltshire," says Mr Kirk.
In terms of where the money is going to come from, he says: "Why can’t you look at where waste is?
"We have areas where the audit trail isn’t there."
Richard Clewer, Conservative
"We need to be honest with people," he says.
"The costs of running services go up year on year.
"I don't think it's unreasonable to see council tax rising with inflation."
He says he focuses on "the ethos of prevention", adding: "We're not cutting services."
Jon Fisher, Labour
The Labour government is "being cautious with money", he says, referring to the "£22bn blackhole" in public finances.
The aspiration is to get to a national care service, he explains.
"In the meantime I think there are efficiencies to be found," he says, such as whether care services can be "brought back in house".
Declan Baseley, Greens
"It will take better funding from central government to help Wiltshire cope with increased costs," says Mr Baseley.
He explains the Greens would always push the government for more funding.
"I think we'd grow richer as a society if we all contribute more to ensure everybody's needs are met."
Our debate is underway and we are asking our candidates how they will fix the county's roads and where they will find the money from.
Richard Clewer, Conservative
He said the Department for Transport says Wiltshire's roads "are getting better".
He explained £1m per year was being put towards improving drainage and £11m in total into fixing the roads.
"It's going to take six or seven years to really make progress," he adds.
Ian Thorn, Lib Dems
"The state of Wiltshire's roads is shocking," Mr Thorn said, adding things "aren't getting better".
He called it a "crisis on our roads".
Mr Thorn said money may need to be borrowed to fix them.
Jon Fisher, Labour
"I'm as fed up of potholes as anyone else," said Mr Fisher.
He said "Labour in government is pledging serious amounts of money" to fix potholes.
Declan Baseley, Greens
He said the best way of saving money is ensuring potholes are fixed permanently.
"[It] means that we don't have to keep footing the same bill every year," added Mr Baseley.
"We need more hot lay tarmac laid by our teams across the county."
Edward Kirk, Reform
"We shouldn't be wasting money settling [pothole damage] claims," said Mr Kirk, adding it is costing residents money in settling these claims.
He says the Conservatives have had "plenty of time" to sort out the roads and they have not done it.
The five candidates debating today, from left to right, are:
Host in front is Dan O'Brien.
Representatives from the main parties will be with us until 11:00 BST
Dan O'Brien, senior political reporter for Wiltshire, is hosting
Dan O'Brien
Political reporter, BBC Wiltshire
Voters are about to decide who runs one of the largest councils in southern England.
All of Wiltshire Council's 98 seats are up for grabs on 1 May, alongside 308 seats on the county's smaller parish and town councils, including in Salisbury.
Since its creation in 2009, Wiltshire Council has been dominated by comfortable Conservative majorities, but the main parties are anticipating a tighter race this year.
With so many positions available, Wiltshire is thought to have the highest number of individual elections of any county in England in 2025.
Some of the topics up for discussion today are potholes, funding, social care and housing.
We also hope to ask our candidates about traffic on the A303, opinions for a Westbury bypass, devolution and the council's commitment to be net zero by 2030.
And we plan to ask some quickfire questions at the end, if we have time.
Our video stream is now live!
Just click play at the top of the page to watch.
While the guests are getting settled in, just a reminder the deadline to register to vote has now passed.
And don't forget, you will need to take photo ID, like a passport, drivers' licence, older person's bus pass, or a veteran's card, to the polling station on 1 May in order to be given your ballot paper.
After the polls close, the ballot papers from all 359 polling stations will be sent to one of three venues to be counted the following day, in Trowbridge, Salisbury and Chippenham.
We expect to know the full set of results late afternoon or early evening on 2 May.
Wiltshire is already getting an unusual amount of high-profile political attention in the lead up to the local elections.
The council is normally regarded by the Conservatives as a safe bet, but the Lib Dems are gunning to win their first ever majority in the county, while Reform UK is also fielding candidates in all 98 Wiltshire seats for the first time.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and her Liberal Democrat counterpart Sir Ed Davey were both knocking on doors in the county last week, with more high-profile names expected ahead of election day.
The live debate for Wiltshire’s local elections starts at 10:00 BST.
While there are numerous candidates across the county, we’ll be hearing from representatives from the main parties:
Green: Declan Baseley
Conservative: Richard Clewer
Labour: Jon Fisher
Liberal Democrat: Ian Thorn
Reform: Edward Kirk
We’ll also hear from one independent candidate, Ernie Clark.
If you’re watching or listening live, your presenter is Dan O’Brien, Wiltshire’s senior political reporter.
Take a look at our set up for today.
We're just finishing the final touches behind the scenes so you can listen, as well as watch the debate.
Our guests will be arriving at the BBC Radio Wiltshire studios shortly to take their seats here, alongside host Dan O'Brien.
It's nearly election day in Wiltshire - with almost 100 seats up for grabs across the county.
And ahead of that we are talking to representatives of the main parties on BBC Radio Wiltshire this morning.
You can follow along with the debate here. We'll be live streaming the debate from 10:00 BST.
