Summary

  • Candidates standing on 4 July are answering your questions in the Your Voice, Your Vote BBC Tees election debate

  • The debate is running between 11:00 BST and midday

  • Questions have been submitted by members of the public

  • You can watch here, on iPlayer, and listen on BBC Tees and BBC Sounds

  • Follow updates on @BBCTees, external on X

  • A full list of candidates standing in all constituencies can be found here

  1. That's all folkspublished at 12:08 British Summer Time 18 June

    We've come to an end of our live Your Voice, Your Vote BBC Tees debate and coverage. You can watch again on BBC iPlayer or click below and listen back on BBC Sounds.

    Media caption,

    Richard Moss hosts a special general election debate where candidates are questioned

  2. Analysis

    Housing question sparks clashpublished at 12:06 British Summer Time 18 June

    Luke Walton
    Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria

    Interesting clash between the Greens and Labour over new housing.

    The Green Party’s Matthew Snedker accuses Labour of promoting “urban sprawl” in Darlington, saying the Labour-run council is building “car-dependent” developments. He says his party would put the focus on affordable, social homes.

    Labour’s Alan Strickland says his party would build 1.5 million homes across the country in the next parliament, by taking “tough decisions”, ensuring councils have local plans and building on brown-field sites.

    For the Liberal Democrats, Jemma Joy says her party would create “garden cities”, creating affordable housing and retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency.

    Conservative Jane MacBean wants the right homes in the right places and supports planning reform.

    Meanwhile Reform UK’s Steve Matthews says he’s “pro-building”, saying it’s important housing is built in areas with sufficient infrastructure.

  3. Just a reminder of the candidates involved in today's debatepublished at 11:59 British Summer Time 18 June

    Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat
    Image caption,

    Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat

    Jane MacBean
    Image caption,

    Jane MacBean, Conservatives

    Steve Matthews
    Image caption,

    Steve Matthews, Reform UK

    Matthew Snedker
    Image caption,

    Matthew Snedker, Green

    Alan Strickland, Labour
    Image caption,

    Alan Strickland, Labour

  4. It's the final day to register to votepublished at 11:58 British Summer Time 18 June

    The deadline is 23:59 on Tuesday 18 June

    A small dog at a polling station

    Registering only takes around five minutes if you do it online and here's our handy guide on what to do

  5. Your Questions Answered

    Question six comes from Christine Bayespublished at 11:55 British Summer Time 18 June

    Business

    "I’d like to know what a new government is going to do for small businesses. Over three million small businesses had no government support during the pandemic, apart from bounce back loans which, unlike the grants, have to be paid back."

  6. Your Voice, Your Votepublished at 11:54 British Summer Time 18 June

    Your Voice, Your Vote will put your stories and questions at the heart of our general election coverage.

    Get in touch and tell us the election issues that matter to you.

    Your Voice, Your Vote words with three megaphones and party colours
  7. Your Questions Answered

    The candidates are now debating crimepublished at 11:50 British Summer Time 18 June

    Political Editor Richard Moss asks the guests what their policies and thoughts are on crime and anti-social behaviour

  8. Analysis

    Candidates address concerns about lack of NHS dentistspublished at 11:44 British Summer Time 18 June

    Luke Walton
    Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria

    Both Jade and Julie complain about a lack of NHS dentists on Teesside – and they are not alone.

    Recently, Labour described the area as a “dental desert” and earlier this year it was reported that only one dentist across Teesside was accepting NHS patients.

    That’s led to worries that an increasing number of patients – unable to afford going private – are resorting to “DIY” dentistry, including pulling out their own teeth.

    As for solutions, Green candidate Matthew Snedker tells the BBC Tees debate his party would reform the dental contract with extra investment of £3bn a year.

    Liberal Democrat challenger Jemma Joy wants more supervised brushing and VAT off children’s toothbrushes.

    Labour’s Alan Strickland says his party will fund another 700,000 dental appointments every year and renegotiate the dental contract.

    Conservative Jane MacBean says her party will incentivise dentists to move to areas with a shortage.

    Meanwhile, Reform UK’s Steve Matthews says it’s an issue of “supply and demand”, adding that immigration is putting extra strain on dentistry and the rest of the health service.

  9. Your Questions Answered

    Question five comes from Jean Whittypublished at 11:41 British Summer Time 18 June

    Housing

    "We’ve moved to a rural area and young people here struggle to find rental properties yet there are lots of empty buildings. Can councils use compulsory purchase orders?"

  10. Just a reminder of the candidates involved in today's debatepublished at 11:37 British Summer Time 18 June

    Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat
    Image caption,

    Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrat

    Jane MacBean
    Image caption,

    Jane MacBean, Conservatives

    Steve Matthews
    Image caption,

    Steve Matthews, Reform UK

    Matthew Snedker
    Image caption,

    Matthew Snedker, Green

    Alan Strickland, Labour
    Image caption,

    Alan Strickland, Labour

  11. Your Questions Answered

    Question four comes from Dr Simon Foxpublished at 11:33 British Summer Time 18 June

    Immigration

    "When will politicians stop kicking minorities to stoke public division?"

  12. Analysis

    Has levelling up had an impact on the North East?published at 11:28 British Summer Time 18 June

    Luke Walton
    Political correspondent, BBC North East and Cumbria

    The Conservative promise to “level up” the North was a key commitment in their 2019 election victory, which saw a clutch of seats across the BBC Tees area switch from red to blue.

    Since then, local Conservatives, among them Tory Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, have pointed to investments such as the Teesworks regeneration of the former Redcar steelworks, and the new Treasury HQ in Darlington, as examples of the policy’s impact.

    The government says about £1.3bn of levelling up cash has been announced for dozens of schemes across the North East since 2019.

    But many local projects have been delayed – in part because of the pandemic and inflation – and some communities complain they’ve been left empty-handed.

    A recent report by a cross-party group of MPs found only 10% of the levelling up cash announced by ministers for projects across the country had actually been spent.

    The Public Accounts Committee found ministers were "unable to provide any compelling examples of what levelling up funding has delivered so far". It also criticised a "worrying lack of transparency" in how cash was allotted.

    Supporters of the approach say there has been progress, and insist that transformation of towns and cities takes time.

    But in 2019, the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised expectations of a levelling up “payback” to his new North East voters.

    Five years on, many are disappointed.

  13. Your Questions Answered

    Question three comes from Jadepublished at 11:24 British Summer Time 18 June

    Dentists and the NHS

    "I was told I needed a filling by my NHS dentist, who had been my dentist since the age of three. Unfortunately, he then unexpectedly passed away and the dental surgery advised they could not find an NHS dentist to replace him.

    "Now over a year later, I can’t access NHS treatment, the filling now needs to be a root canal, which I can’t have done under the NHS."

  14. Who can I vote for?published at 11:20 British Summer Time 18 June

    A map of the UK in a magnifying glass

    Big changes have been made to the political map since 2019. Boundaries have changed and many constituencies will be new or different from the last general election for millions of people.

    You can use our lookup to find out which constituency you are in, who is standing as a candidate in your area and to which polling station you can go to vote.

  15. Your Questions Answered

    Question two comes from Lornapublished at 11:18 British Summer Time 18 June

    Cost of Living

    "Which party is going to look after pensioners? We have paid into the system since we were teenagers so have completed our part of the contract and now want the government to complete theirs and look after us.

    "The majority of pensioners only have an old age pension to survive on so by the time they pay for a roof over their heads, rent, gas, electric and water, the money left for food is a struggle. It would help if pensions were not taxed."

  16. Question one comes from Zoe Wilsonpublished at 11:08 British Summer Time 18 June

    Levelling up

    "I live in Newton Aycliffe in County Durham and have done my whole life. You hear about levelling up but we are the forgotten town between Darlington and Bishop Auckland.

    "There's eight charity shops and no banks whatsoever. We have to go to Darlington, Bishop Auckland or Durham and pay for transport and then parking fees. The whole town looks a mess."

  17. The debate beginspublished at 11:06 British Summer Time 18 June

    The candidates are introducing themselves and the debate runs until midday

  18. Watch the debate livepublished at 11:04 British Summer Time 18 June

    You can watch the debate live here or using the Watch Live link at the top of the page.

    Media caption,

    Live coverage from BBC News

  19. The debate line-uppublished at 10:57 British Summer Time 18 June

    Here is a list of all the candidates taking part in this morning's debate:

    • Jemma Joy, Liberal Democrats, Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland
    • Jane MacBean, Conservative, Bishop Auckland
    • Steve Matthews, Reform UK, Stockton West
    • Matthew Snedker, Green Party, Darlington
    • Alan Strickland, Labour, Newton Aycliffe & Spennymoor
    Candidates in the studio
  20. Behind the scenespublished at 10:53 British Summer Time 18 June

    BBC North East and Cumbria Political Editor Richard Moss is preparing for the debate at the BBC's studios in Newcastle

    Richard Moss in the studio