Summary

  • Candidates for the Ipswich constituency have taken part in a live debate on Tuesday, 18 June

  • You can watch a recording of it on this page

  • The debate, hosted by Sarah Lilley, took place at the BBC Radio Suffolk studios in Ipswich

  • It featured five candidates from the main parties

  1. Welcome to our live coveragepublished at 09:22 British Summer Time 18 June

    We have brought you live video-streamed coverage of today's studio debate with candidates for the Ipswich parliamentary constituency, hosted by BBC Radio Suffolk's Sarah Lilley.

    The hour-and-a-half discussion has now ended and you can watch a re-run of the debate here.

    Media caption,

    Candidates in Ipswich discuss Suffolk's key election topics and answer your questions.

    Polling day is Thursday, 4 July.

  2. The candidates standing for election in the Ipswich constituencypublished at 09:20 British Summer Time 18 June

    Five candidates are taking part in today's debate:

    Jack Abbott

    Jack Abbott (Labour)

    A former Suffolk county councillor (pictured above), he stood for election in the Central Suffolk & North Ipswich seat in 2015, but did not win a seat in the House of Commons.

    Tom Hunt, Conservative

    Tom Hunt (Conservative)

    Won the seat in 2019, beating Labour's Sandy Martin with a majority of 5,479.

    Tony Love, Reform UK candidate

    Tony Love (Reform UK)

    Stood as an Independent candidate in the Suffolk Coastal constituency in 2019, but was beaten by the Conservatives' Therese Coffey.

    Adria Pittock, Green Party candidate

    Adria Pittock (Green Party)

    Has stood for election for the Greens in three local elections for Ipswich Borough Council, but did not win.

    James Sandbach - Liberal Democrat candidate

    James Sandbach (Liberal Democrats)

    Has contested numerous general elections for the Liberal Democrats without success, and he also stood in this year's in the Police and Crime Commissioner election, which was won by the Conservatives' Tim Passmore for a fourth time.

    Also standing in Ipswich are Terence Charles for the Heritage Party and Freddie Sofar for the Communist Party of Britain, but they are not taking part in today's election debate.

    A full list of candidates can be found here.

  3. What could we expect from the Ipswich debate?published at 09:13 British Summer Time 18 June

    Ben Parker
    Political reporter, BBC Suffolk

    Ipswich Town Hall and Cornhill

    Around 140,000 people live in Suffolk's largest town of Ipswich. Some of those are actually represented by the MP for Central Suffolk & North Ipswich, but we're focusing on the Ipswich seat.

    Sarah Lilley will be hosting the debate between five of the seven candidates standing in the election.

    Ipswich has been a straight battle between the Conservatives and Labour since 1914.

    Recent history has seen the Conservatives win the seat back from Labour in 2010, only to see it return to Labour in 2017 when the Conservatives won under Theresa May, and the Tories' Tom Hunt won it back again in 2019 under the leadership of Boris Johnson.

    Subjects likely to come up include health, immigration and crime.

    Transport is another issue in focus, when the nearby Orwell Bridge closes, thousands of extra lorries and cars have to travel through the town.

    Another topic often brought up by voters is the town centre - lots of shops have been left empty after closing down.