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Let's get more on Sajid Javid announcing his support for Liz Truss as leader – and snubbing his friend Rishi Sunak.

Writing in the Times, he doesn't mention Sunak once, but indirectly criticises his plan to hold off on immediate tax cuts, saying Britain is "sleepwalking into a high-tax, low-growth" economy.

Remember - it was Javid and Sunak quitting their cabinet jobs at the beginning of July which triggered an avalanche of government resignations, and eventually led to Boris Johnson's resignation.

Now the former health secretary says while both are "credible" candidates, Foreign Secretary Truss is best placed to an "reunite the party" and "rise to the challenges of our times".

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Both candidates have been courting votes in the Tory heartlands of Ludlow earlier today, drawing about 350 Conservative members at the racecourse pavilion.

The Conservatives held every constituency in the county until the loss of North Shropshire to the Lib Dems in a 2021 by-election.

Speaking first, Rishi Sunak joked that people often say to him he's even shorter than they imagine in real life, while Truss told members she was a "straight-talking Yorkshire woman".

Both ran through their policies – Sunak promising to boost growth and help families with the cost of living, Truss pledging to hike defence spending and "challenge Treasury orthodoxy" with more spending outside big cities.

Introducing the pair, Tory MP for Ludlow, Philip Dunne, revealed a (very) unofficial poll he had carried out, with 34% backing Sunak, 33% supporting Truss, and 33% undecided.

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Former health secretary Sajid Javid has thrown his support behind Liz Truss to become the next Conservative Party leader.

Writing in the Times, he says Truss has the "willingness to challenge the status quo".

Rishi Sunak has come out fighting after a YouGov poll of Tory members suggested he had further fallen behind his rival Liz Truss.

Speaking to the BBC’s Walescast, Sunak points out that he topped the ballot at each stage of the leadership contest when the voting was limited to Tory MPs.

He also points to other data which makes more favourable reading for his team, saying: "Polls show I’m the best placed to win in the country in a general election."

Polling earlier this week, external suggested that Sunak was tied with Labour's Keir Starmer on the question of who would make the most capable prime minister – ahead of Liz Truss.

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Liz Truss says she's taking "nothing for granted" despite appearing to have widened her lead over Conservative leadership rival Rishi Sunak.

A YouGov poll ahead of tonight’s hustings event in Cardiff suggests the gap has widened to 34 points.

60% of Tory members would support Truss in the vote, according to the survey of more than 1,000 members, conducted between 29 July and 2 August.

That's up from 49% from 20-21 July.

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Sunak's support has fallen from 31% to 26% during the same period, the same data says.

But Truss says there is "still a long way to go" in the contest.

Another pollster says such surveys should be treated with caution, while noting Truss's apparent lead.

Chris Curtis of Opinium told Politico that Tory members can be difficult to find, and that polling is made difficult by uncertainties around their demographics.

He added: "I've never felt less confident in polls that I’m running than I feel right now."

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Tory members will receive their ballot papers later than expected after online voting security concerns delayed their being sent out.

The news follows reports that the security agency GCHQ had warned the Conservative Party hackers could change votes.

The party says it has changed its plans for the contest to "enhance security around the ballot process".

It was initially planned that the around 160,000 party members could choose whether to vote by post or online and then, if they changed their minds, use the alternative method to cancel out their previous choice.

In an email sent to members, seen by the BBC, the party wrote that their voting pack was on its way but would "arrive with you a little later than we originally said" as it had "taken some time to add some additional security" to the process.

The email says that, once the ballot company receives a postal vote, they will deactivate the member's online codes to reduce the "risk of any fraud".

Shortly before midday yesterday, Liz Truss’s campaigned swiftly dropped a plan to link public sector pay to local living costs.

On Monday night her campaign team announced a proposal for regional pay boards, arguing this could save the government £8.8bn a year.

But the idea attracted a barrage of criticism from unions, Labour and some Tories, after it became clear the only way this figure could be reached is if it was applied across the entire public sector.

This would mean nurses, teachers and other frontline workers in poorer regions of the country could have faced pay cuts should it be enacted.

The Conservative Mayor of Tees Valley (and Rishi Sunak supporter) Ben Houchen called the plan a "sure fire way to lose the next general election".

Asked earlier today about the decision to abandon the plan, Truss said her proposal had been “misrepresented” and that she had "cancelled" it to make sure doctors and teachers "weren’t worried" over losing pay.

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Hustings give Tory Party members a chance to ask leadership contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss about their tax plans, as well as their plans to tackle the cost of living, energy costs, Brexit, and much more.

It's a crucial stage of the leadership contest as it'll help members to decide which candidate they want to vote for to become the next party leader and PM.

To be able to vote, members must have joined the party on or before 3 June.

Voting will close on 2 September and the new prime minister will be announced on 5 September.

Find out more here.

Thank you for joining our live politics coverage as we prepare for the third Conservative leadership hustings.

Things get under way at 19:00 when Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will set out their stalls and take questions from Tory party members during the two-hour session in Cardiff.

Both finalists vowed to hold the Welsh government to account ahead this evening's event.

Sunak pledged to hold Labour ministers accountable for the NHS and schools in Wales.

Meanwhile Truss accused First Minister Mark Drakeford of letting Wales down.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates from the event.