David Deans
BBC Wales political reporter

The first question comes Anne Reardon-James, who asks: "With rising prices and bills at an all-time high, what will you do to help people in this cost-of-living crisis?"

The first politician to answer it is David TC Davies, the Conservative's Welsh secretary, who blames the crisis on the war in Ukraine.

He says the UK government had "brought inflation down to 2%" with the "joint fastest growth in G7".

When it was put to him that when inflation goes up it is not the UK government's fault, he said: "Bringing inflation down meant taking difficult decisions over spending and borrowing."

Jack Grey
BBC Wales News

We have a 100-strong live studio audience for this evening's debate - and they'll each have their own question they're hoping our panellists will be able to answer.

Each of them have applied to take part and we've made sure the make up of it as representative as possible.

We've had a team of people checking for balance - between the different parties and also decided and undecided voters.

David Deans
BBC Wales political reporter

We're getting ready to start here, and our panel of politicians are assembling in our studio in Cardiff.

The programme will be kicking off at 1900 BST.

We're expecting much of the debate to focus on health, immigration and the cost of living.

Standing as a Reform UK candidate in the Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr constituency, Oliver Lewis has said he politically identifies as "a radical" who wants a "wholesale re-set of Britain’s institutions".

He is currently researching "British state failure" as a PhD student at Oxford University, where he also teaches British politics.

Refuting suggestions that his party's aim for net zero immigration could cause gaps in the workforce, he said it was "morally reprehensible" to pull foreign labour into the health service - saying it is "not a long-term solution to our issues".

He has also shot down a potential collaboration with the Tories in future, branding the party a "failing institution" which "frankly... needs to die".

A child protection social worker for 27 years after graduating university, Jane Dodds was elected leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in November 2017.

After winning a by-election for the Brecon and Radnorshire Westminster constituency in 2019, she held the seat for just three months before the Tories wrestled it back off her in that year's general election.

She was then elected as a regional Senedd member for Mid and West Wales in 2021 and remains her party's only elected politician in Wales.

She has said a good election night for her party on 4 July would be "kicking the Tories out of Wales".

Image source, PA Media

Rhun ap Iorwerth has been leader of Plaid Cymru since 2023, replacing Adam Price following a scathing report on misogyny, harassment and bullying within the party.

A political reporter for BBC Wales from 1994 to 2013, he suddenly quit the broadcaster in 2013 to run for Plaid Cymru in a Senedd by-election for the Ynys Môn seat, which he won - and has held ever since.

In the run up to polling day, Mr ap Iorwerth claimed that this is "not an independence election" and has instead focused his party's offer on building "a stronger, more prosperous economy for Wales".

He also said some areas in Wales need more immigration, not less - blaming strained public services on lack of UK government spending, not migrants.

Vaughan Gething has been first minister, and Welsh Labour leader, since replacing Mark Drakeford in March - becoming the first black man to lead a government in Europe.

He gained national prominence during the Covid pandemic as Wales' health minister, and later became its economy minister.

Since narrowly beating Jeremy Miles to the top job on 16 March, his leadership has been mired in controversy after it was revealed his campaign accepted £200,000 from a company whose boss was twice convicted for environmental offences.

After losing a no-confidence vote in the Senedd on 5 June, he rejected calls to resign and has been publicly backed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Image source, Reuters

David TC Davies was appointed Welsh secretary in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government in 2022.

His previous roles in government, since he was elected MP for Monmouth in 2005, include assistant government whip and junior Wales Office minister.

He told the BBC earlier this month that high-profile errors by top Conservatives have contributed to a "difficult" election campaign for the party.

He also said the 685,000 people that legally migrated to the UK in 2023 year was "far too high" and that he would personally want this number to be at around 100,000 to 150,000.

You may be wondering how we decide which parties are represented in debates.

This evening we'll have panellists from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.

These parties have been invited to participate in line with the BBC’s election guidance, as well as Ofcom’s guidance - these guidelines are available online.

Participation takes account of a number of considerations, including past electoral performance in equivalent elections, over at least two electoral cycles, as well as giving due weight to robust patterns in relevant opinion polls.

It also takes account of the number of constituencies in which each party is fielding candidates.

Image source, Ben Birchall / PA Wire | Getty Images | BBC

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of BBC Wales’ election debate.

Representatives of the five main parties in Wales are preparing before they go head to head in front of a live studio audience.

The panel consists of:

• Conservative Secretary of State for Wales David TC Davies
• Wales’ first minister and Welsh Labour leader Vaughan Gething
• Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth
• Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds
• Reform UK candidate Oliver Lewis

Kick-off is at 19:00 BST and it will be broadcast on BBC One Wales, Radio Wales, iPlayer via the play button at the top of this page and we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates, analysis and reaction here.