Annabel Tiffin asks candidates about immigration and whether it's an issue that's coming up on the doorstep.

Reform UK's Robert Kenyon said: "I'm all about being local, but nationally the policies are scrap VAT on energy bills, scrap Net Zero, drilling in the North Sea.

"Like Andy brought in the Bee network and the buses... I've been knocking on doors all over Makerfield for a while, and there's some people who aren't provided a bus service, who live at the back end of an estate where buses don't go."

Green Sarah Wakefield said: "We've got a really clear plan to empower our public, local authorities to go street by street to make sure that we have the proper insulation so people aren't paying too much on that energy bills

"But we would also go far further than anyone else on this panel, not just in terms of public control that Andy talks about for energy companies, but proper public ownership, so that the hard earned money that we are putting into our energy bills doesn't go into millions of pounds of bonuses.

"It goes right back into the system to building the energy grid that we need to transition to a clean and fair future.

"I think it's really very clear when it comes to energy security that, a strong renewables program is what we need in this country. But when it comes to cost of living, it's not just energy. It's about making sure that we have, caps on, on renters to make sure that we are not paying too much for our housing. It's about making sure we have universal free school meals for all of our children."

Liberal Democrat Jake Austin said: "We believe that energy companies who have a monopoly in this industry have profited too much off the backs of the conflicts that we've had in Iran that of a raised the oil and gas prices.

"We believe that money needs to go back into the pockets of the people who are paying those energy bills, because energy is not a luxury."

Conservative Michael Winstanley said: "We've got a clear plan about how we can reduce those energy bills, which is a real hit for people across the constituency.

"We need to get drilling again in the North Sea for oil and gas, and we need to make sure that we end our obsession with net zero."

Labour's Andy Burnham said "I've already acted to help people with the cost of living.

"The Bee Network has brought in low fares for people. I've put a cap on bus fares, £2 for a single journey, and that can be within the hour. So people can take as many buses as they like. I also removed the 9:30am restriction of older and disabled people's bus passes earlier this year, and all of these things are designed to help people with the cost of living.

"In a couple of years time, we will bring all of the rail stations of the Makerfield constituency into the B network, and that will cut the cost of rail travel, because all of it then will be in the the daily cap that the London system has pioneered that we're going to adopt as well."

Annabel Tiffin kicks off by asking candidates what they are going to do about the cost of living.

The debate is about to get under way with host BBC North West's political editor Annabel Tiffin.

Just to recap the candidates from the five main parties - Reform, Labour, the Conservatives, Greens and Liberal Democrats - will be live in the studio with contributions from the other nine candidates standing in the Makerfield by-election.

Here's a list of all the candidates.

To follow the debate click the Watch Live tab above.

Shortly, the five candidates from the main parties will take part in the debate.

You can watch a short manifesto for all 14 of the candidates on this page, but we are also showing them in this live page.

Below you can see manifestos from independent candidates John Dyer and Paul Gould and Restore Britain's Rebecca Shepherd.

We will be hearing from five of the candidates in the debate, but you can watch a short manifesto for all 14 of the candidates on this page.

We are also showing them in this live page and below+ you can see manifestos from Count Binface of the Count Binface Party, Alan 'Howlin' Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party and independent candidate Robert Pownall.

Annabel Tiffin
Presenter, BBC North West Tonight

Makerfield - and under its previous name of Ince - has been a Labour seat for more than 120 years.

For a long time it was considered one of the party's safest red wall seats but recently things have shifted.

In the 2024 general election, Josh Simons retained the seat for Labour with a majority of just over 5,000. Reform UK came second.

However, at the recent local elections, Nigel Farage's party swept the board, winning all the council seats up for grabs in Makerfield.

The Conservatives have had a reasonable level of support historically in the constituency; they came fairly close in the 2019 general election with a 34% share of the vote.

As for the other main parties, the Greens and Liberal Democrats secured more than 3,000 votes between them in 2024, more than 10% of the vote.

We will be hearing from five of the candidates in the debate, but you can watch a short manifesto for all 14 of the candidates on this page.

We will also be showing them in this live page, starting with Dan Clarke of the Libertarian Party, Ed Gemmell of the Climate Party and Rejoin EU's Peter Ward.

Annabel Tiffin
Presenter, BBC North West Tonight

Image source, PA Media

All eyes are on the parliamentary seat of Makerfield - as the result could decide the next prime minister.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Josh Simons, who said he wanted to give Andy Burnham an opportunity to contest the seat and become an MP.

Burnham confirmed last week that if he did win the seat he would seek to enter any potential Labour leadership contest, and challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the top job.

This is an election like no other... a sitting Labour MP standing down to help someone else get elected.

Candidates standing for the five main parties in the Makerfield by-election will take part in the debate, live on BBC Radio Manchester and BBC iPlayer from 15:00.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Jake Austin (Liberal Democrats), Andy Burnham (Labour and Co-operative), Robert Kenyon (Reform UK), Sarah Wakefield (Green) and Michael Winstanley (Conservative) will be in the studio, with contributions from all 14 candidates who are standing in the by-election.

Annabel Tiffin
Presenter, BBC North West Tonight

Makerfield isn't actually a place. It's a constituency made up of eight wards, and parts of two more, none of which are called Makerfield.

The constituency lies to the west of Manchester and is home to about 76,000 voters in the suburbs of Wigan and nearby former mining towns and villages.

Image source, PA Media

The by-election was triggered when Labour's Josh Simons, the sitting MP for Makerfield, resigned from his seat.

He said he had stepped down to allow his party colleague Andy Burnham to run for parliament and potentially mount a leadership bid.

Burnham does not have to stand down as Greater Manchester mayor to stand in the by-election.

The debate is taking place between 15:00 and 16:00. It is being broadcast live on BBC Radio Manchester and BBC iPlayer, and will be streamed at the top of this page.

BBC North West's politics editor Annabel Tiffin is leading this afternoon's debate.

Image source, Gareth Price, BBC

A full list of the announced candidates for the Makerfield by-election can be found here.

Lynette Horsburgh
North West

Welcome to the live coverage of this afternoon's Makerfield by-election debate.

Image source, PA Media

Candidates standing for the five main parties are taking part, with contributions from all those standing in the by-election on Thursday 18 June.