If you're looking for a big Friday night in politics then you're in the right place, because the election campaign is well and truly gearing up a notch.

Keep it here for the latest from tonight's debate - including live fact-checking by BBC Verify and our correspondents unpicking what it all means to you.

And to stay across all the big moments as the election campaign intensifies, sign up for our Election Essential newsletter.

It'll arrive every weekday at 17:30 and come jam-packed with top political analysis, election trivia and insight from across the UK.

The final three politicians due to stand at their assigned lectern from 19:30 have arrived at the BBC's head office in London.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Sean Seddon
Reporting from debate spin room

As the party's leaders and representatives taking part in the main event arrive at BBC HQ in central London, the spin room across the corridor from where the debate will be taking place tonight continues to fill up in earnest.

Conservative MP and former cabinet minister David Davis is here to do battle for his party, while Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika is already doing the rounds on television.

They'll be hoping to convince you that what you see tonight is tremendously good for their party (regardless of whether it actually is).

They're entitled to do that, that's politics - and you're entitled to make your own mind up.

BBC Verify's five things to watch out for in the debatepublished at 18:27 British Summer Time 7 June

18:27 BST 7 June

The campaign has already been dominated by claim and counterclaim and it could be a busy night for fact-checkers at BBC Verify.

Here's what we think might come up in tonight's election debate:

• Expect more big claims on tax
• Will we hear about a spending squeeze?
• Some will want to talk about immigration
• Arguments about health
• What about crime?

If you'd like to get to grips with the facts, claims and disputes about these five key issues, you can read more detail here.

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Unite, Labour's biggest trade union backer, has refused to endorse the party's general election manifesto, saying it does not go far enough on protecting workers' rights and jobs in the oil and gas industry.

Union leaders were at a meeting on Friday to finalise the party's 2024 election platform ahead of its launch next week.

The BBC understands that at the meeting Unite announced they would not endorse Labour's plans.

There is now a question mark over whether Unite will fund the party at the general election. In 2019, Unite gave £3m to Labour's campaign.

Sean Seddon
Reporting from debate spin room

The spin room is filling up with reporters - a strange bunch of people who consider this a Friday evening well-spent - but politicians are thin on the ground so far.

I can't possibly imagine why they might prefer to limit the amount of time they're trapped in a room full of journalists to a minimum.

As the start of the debate draws ever-closer, more of the seven politicians due to be on stage have begun to file in to the BBC's head office in London.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The first two politicians appearing in tonight's debates have arrived at the BBC ahead of the kick-off at 19:30.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The audience for the BBC's debate - about 120 people - have submitted questions to the seven leading figures we'll hear from tonight.

They've also been allowed to submit late questions, which could reflect some of the big issues of the day, such as Rishi Sunak's apology for leaving Thursday's D-Day events early.

The audience itself is picked by a polling company, which is tasked with reflecting the electoral map of Britain.

• Find out more from the BBC's director of journalism Jonathan Munro in this one-minute clip:

Malu Cursino
Reporting from debate spin room

After an airport-style start to our evening, we've been issued wristbands and are in the spin room, which is quickly filling up.

One curious thing caught my eye as I made the short journey from the newsroom to the spin room - the much-loved Doctor Who Dalek trying to sneak a peek inside...

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

A former government adviser on extremism has resigned from the Conservative Party over Rishi Sunak's decision to miss part of yesterday's D-Day commemorations in Normandy.

Ian Acheson tells the BBC he has "flipped" after what he described as a "colossal act of disrespect" by the prime minister.

He adds he has been "circling the drain for a long number of months" because of the Conservative's "shenanigans", including what he called the "lunacy of the Truss regime".

Acheson led an independent review on Islamic extremism in 2016 and has since provided informal advice to the government, but has no formal government role.

He says his upbringing in Northern Ireland had given him a "visceral connection to Remembrance".

Acheson also called the policy on national service, announced earlier in the campaign, "tin-eared."

Image source, Getty Images

As we gear up for tonight's debate, the Labour Party has announced that it has now agreed its election manifesto, paving the way for an official launch next week.

Senior shadow cabinet members spent the day locked in discussions at a "secret" central London location with leading trade unions and members of Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC).

After the summit, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband were seen leaving the venue.

Abdi Duale, a member of the NEC, said the meeting was "very positive" and was "quicker than I thought".

Ahead of the summit, the main unions were said to be keen to secure a commitment from party leaders on labour rights, including an end to zero-hour contracts.

Unite, which is the largest union donor to Labour, was reportedly considering cutting donations if party leaders weren't strong enough on the issue.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

It’s the first BBC debate tonight, and it could not come at a more sensitive moment of this election campaign.

The Conservatives are tangled up in recriminations over Rishi Sunak’s decision to come home early from the D-Day commemorations in France.

To put it mildly, these are not ideal circumstances for Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative representative tonight, to face off against six parties all trying to win votes from those disgruntled with the government.

But the stakes are high for all the other parties too - not just Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, but the five smaller parties.

These smaller parties are all trying to persuade you, the voter, to back a party which is not going to provide the prime minister after 4 July.

Ninety minutes where the arc of the next phase of this election campaign, for parties big and small, will be sketched out. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.

Let's look at who will be representing each party in tonight's seven-way debate:

• Penny Mordaunt - the Conservative Party
• Angela Rayner - the Labour Party
• Daisy Cooper - the Liberal Democrats
• Stephen Flynn - Scottish National Party
• Nigel Farage - Reform UK
• Rhun ap Iorwerth - Plaid Cymru
• Carla Denyer - the Green Party

The leaders from Northern Ireland's main parties are not taking part in this debate.

As a reminder, the debate starts at 19:30 - and you can follow the build-up right here, and in our live video coverage at the top of the page.

Our Chief Political Correspondent Henry Zeffman talks it through - in just over a minute.

Take a look:

Sean Seddon
Reporting from debate spin room

Good evening from the BBC debate spin room - or as it’s usually called, the staff cafe - where the build-up to tonight’s main event is well under way.

Tonight, this room will be full of party officials and journalists watching the debate between representatives from the seven main parties who want your vote in less than four weeks from now.

We’re still two and a half hours from kick-off but people are already starting to arrive, cameramen are poised outside for the big arrivals and last-minute finishing touches are being applied to the tea and coffee table.

The two men most likely to be prime minister on 5 July aren't taking part this evening, but two leading figures from their party are. For the five other political parties taking part it's a chance to get their message across to the country.

My colleague Malu Cursino and I will be in the spin room throughout the night trying to shine a light on what goes on behind the scenes at these big events.

And if you’re thinking “what on Earth is a spin room”, this is the side-room where party functionaries and reporters gather to watch the debate and then haggle over how they think the story of the night should be told (think backstage at the Brits for the type of people who always watch Question Time).

Stay tuned and we’ll be trying to help you make sense of another big night in this dramatic election campaign.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

As well as raising the issues that most to you, you’ve also asked us for some explanation to help when it comes to casting your vote.

Tonight’s debate will see the parties explain where they stand on some matters.

But Lewis in Abergele asks: Is there a place that shows what each party stands for and what they hope to achieve?

The answer is their manifestos – published by each of them during the campaign.

We’ve yet to see them but they should start to come out next week. For example, as we heard earlier, Labour’s leadership and the unions have been in negotiations today about their draft manifesto.

Victoria Park-Froud
BBC News

Sana Khan, from Bedfordshire, told us she is most concerned about the treatment of people with disabilities like her and what can be done to help them.

She says a modern country like the UK should enable disabled people to do things like getting a train “independently without worrying about getting on or off or being stuck”.

Sana says her local hospital’s lifts have been broken for months, meaning essential medical services are inaccessible to her.

She also highlights social care, employment opportunities and housing as areas where disabled people are “consistently let down”.

Victoria Park-Froud
BBC News

Climate scientist Dr Stephanie Evers says she is particularly keen to hear what the politicians in the debate later tonight will say about the environment.

The Liverpool John Moores University academic says she is concerned the issue is not getting enough attention.

She says a lack of urgency on the topic, and the narrow scope of discussions around the issue, is causing problems for decision making, including ones “we can control at home” like biodiversity protection, farming sustainability or home insulation.

“I feel, given the scale of the issue, and the level of climate anxiety, why is this is not being pushed more by media and parties?”

Kris Bramwell
BBC News

Next up is the Conservative Party’s idea to introduce a national service scheme for 18-year-olds.

As a reminder, the basic plan is that around 30,000 people would enrol in a year-long military training scheme while the rest would do community service for one weekend a month over a 12-month period.

It's a topic that understandably matters to Conservative Party member Kole Gjikolaj, who is 17 and therefore not yet eligible to vote.

Kole, from Devon, supports the idea of a scheme that "allows young people to learn life skills" and help their community but is sceptical about it being mandatory.

He also says the money allocated for the programme - set to be around £2.5bn a year - would be better spent on improving schools.