Liz Kendall, the shadow care minister, says she will be a "fresh start" for Labour and the country. Last up is left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn, whose call for "jobs, homes and hopes for everybody" gets a shout of approval from the audience. That's the opening statements done and we're on to the first audience question.

Opening the debate, Yvette Cooper - the shadow home secretary - tells the audience she wants them to feel their home is with Labour. Next to make his opening statement is Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary. He says he will take Labour "out of the Westminster bubble".

We are up and running in Nuneaton. The four contenders and the Newsnight host, Laura Kuenssberg.

As the four hopefuls for Labour's leadership begin their first live TV debate, former shadow chancellor Ed Balls - a contender for the job in 2010 - has just announced his new role.

Mr Balls, who lost his seat at the general election, has been made senior fellow at the prestigious Harvard university.

He will be expected on campus in the United States for at least three to four weeks each term over the course of the year-long unpaid appointment at the Kennedy School.

His brief covers European integration, international patterns of economic growth, investment, productivity, wages and employment.   

So here we go - the first televised debate of the Labour leadership contest. Watch it on this page by clicking on the live tab and follow all the action, reaction and analysis in our text commentary.

Can you believe it? It's not much more than an hour to go until Newsnight's Labour leadership hustings.

It's like Christmas eve in the Newsnight office. And doubtless on the streets of Nuneaton too. And here's an early present in your stocking, some pictures of us getting ready:

At Prime Minister's Questions, Chancellor George Osborne said the UK had "1 per cent of the world's population, 4 per cent of its GDP, but we undertake 7 per cent of the world's welfare spending". His eye-catching phrase was a reference to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2012 claim that "Europe today accounts for just over 7 per cent of the world's population, produces around 25 per cent of global GDP and has to finance 50 per cent of global social spending". 

The Treasury said the British Chancellor's variation on the theme came from World Bank calculations, which were based on United Nations "social protection spending" data. The figure included, among other things, benefits, tax credits and pensions - all payments critics of the figure pointed out were not available to many people in poorer nations. 

But did the new figure signal a change in the Chancellor's plans for cutting the welfare budget? The Treasury said his remarks were an "illustration" of the need to save money but Mr Osborne's target remained cutting £12 billion from the budget, excluding pensions, rather than reducing that 7 per cent. 

Image source, Getty

UKIP deliberately chose an economic argument to launch the opening salvo of its EU Referendum campaign rather than retreat to its well-rehearsed case on immigration. By doing so it hopes to get its views in early on the issues it thinks the pro-EU campaign will put front and centre.

Flanked by senior figures, with the party's only MP Douglas Carswell & former MP Mark Reckless in the audience in a show of solidarity, Nigel Farage said his party would play a "vital part" in the debate and use its existing structure to galvanise Eurosceptic support.

Watching from the audience was the UKIP leader’s former senior advisor, Raheem Kassam, who left the party after internal disagreements over his approach. Now editor of Breitbart London, he was there as a journalist but kept a close eye on Mr Farage, who still has his full support. Although Mr Farage has admitted the No to the EU campaign should be led by someone outside politics without “political baggage” he sees his party – and himself - as essential players, and he’s starting to rally the troops.

Image source, BBC News

Nigel Farage went through a phase of not being pictured with a pint in his hand (we can't remember it either but it's true, apparently). 

But the UKIP leader has made an exception to help save one of his favourite boozers from closure. 

Like so many other pubs in central London, The Westminster Arms - a popular watering hole of politicos and civil servants - could be replaced by luxury flats. 

UKIP watchers will be interested to note that the man running the Save the Westminster Arms campaign is none other than Raheem Kassam, Mr Farage's erstwhile adviser and drinking buddy who departed in controversial circumstances a few weeks ago.