Image source, Reuters

Kamala Harris has accepted her party's nomination in Chicago, and will progress with her presidential campaign as the Democratic candidate.

The nomination is a just formality at this point, but the Democratic National Convention in Chicago – and her set-piece speech to close the event – is a key moment for a campaign that is short on time to introduce Harris as a presidential candidate to the US public.

Catch up with our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's four key takeaways from the speech

Listen to the hosts of Americast talk through whether Harris pulled it off

Read BBC Verify's latest work, fact-checking on the key claims she made

Watch BBC iPlayer's 30-minute documentary on Harris's rise to the top of her party

With the Democrat and Republican candidates now formally chosen, the race is well and truly underway.

We're ending our live coverage now, but will continue to cover the US presidential race going forward. Thanks for joining us.

Warming up the crowd at the Democratic National Convention last night were actress Kerry Washington and two of Kamala Harris’ great-nieces to explain how to pronounce their her name.

Amara and Leela are the daughters of Harris’ niece Meena Harris.

“First you say ‘Kama,’ like a comma in a sentence,” Amara said.

“Then you say ‘La,’ like ‘la-la-la-la-la,’” said little sister Leela.

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

Wednesday:

• Tim Walz was formally nominated as the Democratic candidate for vice-president. "Coach Walz" made a personal pitch to middle America, talking about his time as a teacher and football coach, and his family's fertility struggles

• A surprise appearance from Oprah energised the crowd, along with featured appearances from comedian Mindy Kaling, singer John Legend and soul legend Stevie Wonder
• Former president Bill Clinton also delivered a speech, warning the crowd that "you should never underestimate your opponent"

Image source, EPA

Thursday:

• Night four was Kamala Harris's night as she formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, delivering a speech that hit the key campaign points, but covered little new ground
• As pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside, Harris's message on Gaza was one of continuity, pledging that she and the president were working round the clock for a ceasefire and a hostage deal
• Democratic lawmakers Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper - who were all considered to be Harris's VP - each threw their support behind her

• Speculation soared through the day of a surprise appearance by Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, but ultimately the rumours fell flat

Image source, Reuters

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

And that's a wrap on four days of the DNC in Chicago, a highlight of the political calendar for party supporters, volunteers and elected representatives.

Let's take take a look back at the big moments from each night of the convention.

Monday:

• Night one felt like a send off for Joe Biden, with speakers heaping praise on the man who stepped down as the party's candidate just four weeks ago - “Thank you Joe!” the crowd chanted
• The party's rising stars had time to shine, including progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told the crowd that it's time for Kamala Harris to break "the highest, hardest glass ceiling"
• The evening wrapped up with an impassioned speech from President Biden. The cheers turned thunderous as he told the audience: "America, America, I gave my best to you."

Image source, Reuters

Tuesday:

• An Obama double-act stole the show on night two. In back-to-back speeches, Barack and Michelle Obama mixed gags with serious exhortations to get out and vote
• Several Republicans crossed the aisle to throw their support behind Harris. Donald Trump's former press secretary Stephanie Grisham told the crowd: "I couldn't be part of the insanity any longer."
• America's Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, hoping soon to be its very first first gentleman, lauded his wife Kamala Harris as "the right person" for him and for the US alike
• The DNC roll call, where delegates pledge their support for the candidate, turned into an all-out dance party featuring celebs like filmmaker Spike Lee, actress Eva Longoria and rapper Lil Jon

Image source, Reuters

A recap of days three and four will follow shortly.

It was a night of spectacle as Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, culminating in the biggest speech of her life.

Here's a look back at the most memorable moments over the past four days of the convention:

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Is Harris right - did Trump tank the immigration deal?published at 08:51 British Summer Time 23 August

08:51 BST 23 August

By Jake Horton and Lucy Gilder

Image source, Reuters

In her speech, Kamala Harris claimed Donald Trump "believes a border deal would hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal."

Trump did publicly call for Republicans to vote against the Biden administration's immigration bill and took credit when it failed.

The immigration bill aimed to tighten asylum standards, increase spending on Border Patrol, and allow for the automatic closure of the southern border to illegal crossings if a certain daily threshold was reached.

The majority of lawmakers in the US Senate opposed the proposed measures. Trump did not have a vote, but he did call for his Republican lawmakers to oppose it.

Trump said the bill was “horrendous” as he thought it was not tough enough on immigration.

At a Fox News event in February 2024, he said he was against the deal as passing it would have “made it much better for the opposing side”.

The bill was blocked in the Senate for a second time in May.

Image source, Reuters

Kamala Harris's speech brings the Democratic National Convention to a close.

Entering the presidential race late in the day, she has not had much time to tell voters who she is and what she stands for – this was likely her best opportunity to do so.

Will it be enough to convince the voters?

Americast presenters Justin Webb, Sarah Smith, and Anthony Zurcher give their analysis in the last of their daily episodes from the convention in Chicago.

• Listen here

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the convention

Vice-President Kamala Harris has been riding high on a wave of favourable polls and energetic rallies since she became the Democratic Party's nominee for president. But beyond the good vibes, where does she stand on the issues that matter to Americans?

Although she has yet to release a comprehensive platform, her time as a California senator and prosecutor, her 2020 bid for the presidency and subsequent role in the White House give hints as to where Harris stands on a number of policy areas.

Over the years, some of her positions have shifted and even people close to her acknowledge she has sometimes struggled to define herself.

But as she accepted the Democratic nomination at the party's convention in Chicago, she made an effort to contrast her vision for America with her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

• We take you through Harris's stance on key policy areas here

Image source, EPA

Tom Perez, President Biden’s senior advisor on intergovernmental affairs and former chair of the Democratic National Committee, has been speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

He says Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have “a lot of momentum”, claiming small donations to the campaign have “exploded”.

But he notes “we’ve got a long time to go” in the race.

Harris is showing that she will not be distracted by Trump's criticism, he says, saying she is not “stooping” to the former president's level and instead saying her speech focused on the cost of groceries and healthcare, on public safety, and “issues that keep people up at night”.

Within the last few hours, Kamala Harris formally accepted her party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

She told the crowd she wanted to be a leader for all Americans, and warned of extremely serious consequences if Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Here's how some Democratic supporters reacted to her pitch:

Image source, X

Former US first lady Michelle Obama describes Kamala Harris's convention speech as "powerful" as she urges Americans to "vote like our lives depend on it" in a post on X.

"We must rally our neighbors and communities. And we must start now. Don’t wait. We can’t let this momentum die down," she adds.

Emma Vardy
Reporting from the convention

This was an event made for TV.

It had to have that incredibly feel-good factor, the vision of the balloons raining down, the red, white and blue, the patriotism.

But what happens now is that, although she’s quite fresh to voters, she has to deal with the next few months of Republicans attacking her at every turn, the potential threat of misinformation and things that get manipulated online.

And the next big moment is a live debate against Donald Trump, which will be a very different experience to performing in the scripted and choreographed way that you get at a convention.

BBC reporter Caitriona Perry was on the floor when around 100,000 balloons descended on the crowd at the United Center following Kamala Harris's speech.

Watch the closing spectacle back here:

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Harris promoted her middle class roots

She began by speaking about her upbringing in San Francisco as the daughter of an immigrant from India, saying “the middle class is where I come from”.

A vision for the future - with few details

Her speech included calls for unity and a pathway beyond the “bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles” of modern American politics.

When she did turn to policy details, she spoke in generalities, saying she would focus on lowering the costs of “everyday needs” such as healthcare, housing and groceries, and “building” the middle class.

She specifically called out abortion rights – and framed it as a means of preserving freedom, which has been a recurring theme at this Democratic convention.

An unchanged Gaza war message

As pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside the convention, Harris devoted particular attention in the foreign-policy section of her speech to the Gaza war.

She echoed the rhetoric of the current President, Joe Biden, saying they are working round the clock to get a hostage deal and ceasefire.

Trump is an 'unserious man' but serious threat

She described her opponent, Donald Trump, as in many ways an “unserious man”, but warned the consequences of putting him back in office would be “extremely serious”

Trump himself posted on social media throughout her remarks, criticising her performance.

• Read more here

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Reuters

During Harris's 45-minute long speech tonight, while she briefly touched on the issue of the war in Gaza, she did not address the protestors sitting just outside the convention walls.

Several of the uncommitted delegates - who oppose US support of Israel - held a sit-in on Wednesday and Thursday to protest the DNC's decision not to include any Palestinian speakers on the schedule.

During her speech, Harris said she would always defend Israel's right to security, while calling for Palestinians to live with "dignity" and "freedom".

But unlike Biden, who said during his speech on Monday that pro-Palestinian protestors in Chicago had "a point", Harris did not directly acknowledge the uncommitted delegates' concerns.

Image source, X

Former president Barack Obama has just shared his thoughts about the Democrats' new presidential nominee, having electrified the DNC on Tuesday night in his own primetime speech.

"We are ready for a President Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris is ready for the job," he posts on X.

Harris and Obama have known each other for years, and she worked on his early campaign for president.

• You can read more about their relationship here

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

I spoke earlier to Cameron Landin, a 21-year old Georgia delegate and regional organiser for the Harris-Walz campaign in Savannah who is here in Chicago for the convention.

Like most people here, he's extremely happy with how the DNC has gone, and says he believes the party got out the message it needed to.

He does say, however, that he is "nervous" for a tough battle ahead against Donald Trump.

"It's tough work. Never, ever take an election for granted, especially one like this," he explains.

"I really do believe Kamala Harris is going to win," Landin says. "That doesn't mean I'm not nervous."

What else did Harris focus on?published at 05:54 British Summer Time 23 August

05:54 BST 23 August

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Another takeaway from Harris's speech is her unchanged position on Gaza.

As pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside the convention, Harris devoted particular attention in the foreign policy section of her speech to the war in Gaza.

Here, yet again, there was little difference between her rhetoric and views and those of Biden.

“President Biden and I are working around the clock,” she said, “because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done.”

She also pledged to ensure that Israel always has the ability to defend itself.

For a moment, it sounded like some in the crowd would jeer, but Ms Harris quickly moved on to the plight of Palestinians, saying that the scale of their suffering was “heart-breaking”.

That will hardly be enough to satisfy the protesters outside, however, and they could return to their homes – some in key battleground states like Michigan – convinced that a Harris presidency would be a continuation of Biden's Gaza war policies.

Takeaways from Harris's speechpublished at 05:42 British Summer Time 23 August

05:42 BST 23 August

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

For roughly 45 minutes on Thursday, Harris tried to tell Americans who she is - and what she would do if she wins the White House.

Here are two main takeaways from her convention-closing remarks.

An introduction

Many Americans know who Harris is, but not many know what she believes in or the details of her background.

She recounted her mother’s journey as an immigrant from India. She talked about her childhood upbringing in a working-class neighbourhood in Oakland, California.

Harris also spoke of why she chose to become a lawyer – and a prosecutor.

“My entire career, I have only had one client,” she said. “The people.”

The future

Harris’s speech included calls for unity and a pathway beyond the “bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles” of modern American politics.

She said that the US had a “precious, fleeting” opportunity to “chart a new path forward”.

But that chart had few details.

When Harris did turn to policy details, she spoke in generalities. She said she will be focused on lowering the costs of “everyday needs” – including healthcare, housing and groceries. And specifically called out abortion rights – and framed it as a means of preserving freedom.