Summary

  • BBC Radio Wiltshire's election debate was live on this page

  • The debate was hosted by Dan O'Brien and Sophie Parker

  • You can listen again to the debate on this page, it'll be available on the iPlayer later

  • The candidates taking part are: Matt Aldridge (Labour), Malcolm Cupis (Reform UK), Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat), Rod Hebden (Green) and Danny Kruger (Conservatives)

  1. That's the end of the live blogpublished at 11:02 British Summer Time 19 June

    Our live coverage of BBC Radio Wiltshire's election debate has now finished.

    You can watch again below:

    Media caption,

    Dan O'Brien hosts a special Wiltshire election debate

  2. What do you think of how the debate has gone?published at 10:56 British Summer Time 19 June

    What do you think about what the candidates have said during the debate?

    Get in touch with the BBC and have your say.

    a view of the studio in Bristol
  3. Cost of living: How will pensioners be protected?published at 10:54 British Summer Time 19 June

    Danny Kruger, Conservatives: "We have the triple lock and triple lock plus. We also need to raise the threshold progressively to account for pensioners paying income tax."

    Rod Hebden, Green Party: "We need to be having national insulation programmes and cutting our energy."

    Malcolm Cupis, Reform UK: "We're raising the tax ceiling to £20,000, so you pay no tax at all for the first £20,000 of your income."

    Sarah Gibson, Liberal Democrats: "We need to reduce people's outgoings. We need a really good policy about insulating our houses and lowering our energy costs."

    Matt Aldridge, Labour: "We need to improve economic stability. Tougher rules and a lock on tax for working people, you can get prices under control after that. Investing in cleaning energy will reduce bills in the future."

  4. 'Quite difficult to live' as a pensionerpublished at 10:50 British Summer Time 19 June

    The next question for the panel comes from local people concerned about the cost of living crisis and the impact it has one pensioners.

    Media caption,

    Andy Barker says the cost of living crisis has had a big impact on pensioners.

  5. Housing: What they say about rentingpublished at 10:45 British Summer Time 19 June

    Matt Aldridge, Labour: "We want to build 1.5 million homes, that's what's really crucial here. We will ban leaseholds for new builds, that's an important thing, but for existing builds we want to drive to it."

    Sarah Gibson, Liberal Democrats: "Renters will be under control on who they want the management company to be in a block of flats... we're committed to building 150,000 affordable homes and have reform of the national planning policy"

    Danny Kruger, Conservatives: "We need a much greater increase in housebuilding. We want to make it more affordable for people to buy their own homes, so we will take first time buyers out of stamp duty altogether. We don't want more building on our green fields, we want infilling in market towns, small pocket developments in villages and brownfield sites in cities."

    Rod Hebden, Green Party: "We need to shift power. Too often the power doesn't sit with the renter. We have in our manifesto you'll see about removing no-fault evictions, enabling local authorities to impose rent controls.

    Malcolm Cupis, Reform UK: "We want to review the planning system, targeting brownfield sites and reforming social housing law."

  6. Housing is a key issue for voters in Wiltshirepublished at 10:34 British Summer Time 19 June

    Another really popular topic has been housing - how and where to build them, help for getting on the ladder, giving more protection to renters and leaseholders too. Lets have a look at some of those points raised, starting with mum Sam who's is desperate for more affordable rental housing.

    Media caption,

    Several listeners put questions to the panel about the state of housing in Wiltshire.

  7. Technical issues - sorry we vanished for a moment!published at 10:34 British Summer Time 19 June

    Apologies for the brief interruption on the live feed.

    We will make sure a complete programme is uploaded to this page at the end of the debate.

  8. What candidates say on social care reformpublished at 10:29 British Summer Time 19 June

    Malcolm Cupis, Reform UK: "We need to invest in the NHS very widely. We need to invest more in our own people, and better training and incentives for people from our own country."

    Danny Kruger, Conservative: "We need to raise the salary threshold, continue to bring and invite people to the care sector, but fundamentally we need reform."

    Rod Hebden, Green Party: "We need to find the money. Most of the increase we need for care comes from two main tax increases, tax on the super wealthy and one to make national insurance fairer."

    Sarah Gibson, Liberal Democrats: "We're trying to remove the silo working of the NHS and get things back to a local level. That financial necessity is coming from reversing a tax that's from large banks."

    Matt Aldridge, Labour: "We want to is to bring together all the parties and find a sustainable solution going forward, no more of these sticking platers."

  9. 'Social care is in crisis', says home ownerpublished at 10:24 British Summer Time 19 June

    Sally Young runs a care home and she wants to know what can happen after the election.

    Media caption,

    Sally Young runs a care home and she wants to know what can happen after the election.

  10. NHS dentists: What candidates say on accesspublished at 10:20 British Summer Time 19 June

    Danny Kruger, Conservative: "We need to sit down with the NHS and dentists to work out a better contract. We're committed to increasing the training places by a quarter, rewarding dentists for taking on more patients and reforming the contract."

    Matt Aldridge, Labour: "We will put more money into 700,000 more emergency dentist appointments each year, and supervised teeth brushing in schools."

    Sarah Gibson, Liberal Democrats: "We need to simplify the contract to simplify surgeries getting NHS payments and remove some of the top-down bureaucracy."

    Malcolm Cupis, Reform UK: "Our policy is to copy the French system, oddly enough. That's to focus on the people who need the NHS services so they get the services they require free at the point of delivery."

    Rod Hebden, Green Party: "We're talking about an increase in funding into dentists that will rise to £3bn by 2030."

  11. Behind-the-scenes of our debatepublished at 10:12 British Summer Time 19 June

    We're in the studio for our live debate. We'll be posting some photos of how things look to give you an idea of the view for Dan and the candidates.

    Dan O'Brien and the candidates sitting in a purple studio with cameras in the foreground
    Dan O'Brien and the candidates sitting in a purple studio with cameras in the foreground
  12. 'I worry about the future' of health servicespublished at 10:08 British Summer Time 19 June

    First, one of the many comments you've made about the NHS, particularly how difficult it is to find an NHS dentist here. Our first question comes from Maurice Ellis

    Media caption,

    A listener is worried the current situation with dentists could lead to NHS privatisation.

  13. We are now livepublished at 09:59 British Summer Time 19 June

    ☝️ The debate is just about to get under way to click or tap watch live ☝️

  14. What are the key issues in Wiltshire for voters?published at 09:50 British Summer Time 19 June

    Before we get started on the debate, let's have a look at what they key issues are across the county.

    The presenters and reporters from BBC Radio Wiltshire guide you through the main topics on the minds of voters.

    Our audiences have been telling us what they believe are the key issues in the run up to the general election, such as dentists and trust in politicians.

    To get in touch with us please click on this link.

  15. Welcome to the live pagepublished at 09:40 British Summer Time 19 June

    Stonehenge in Wiltshire

    Campaigning for the general election is in full swing with two weeks to go until the vote.

    We've got candidates from the main parties gathered to debate the big issues such as social care, cost of living and housing.

    The debate is presented by BBC Radio Wiltshire's political reporter Dan O'Brien and reporter Sophie Parker.

    The candidates are:

    Labour: Matt Aldridge

    Reform UK: Malcolm Cupis

    Liberal Democrat: Sarah Gibson

    Green: Rod Hebden

    Conservatives: Danny Kruger