We're closing our live coverage following the televised debate.

You can read a full round-up of how the debate went here.

Goodnight, and thanks for joining us.

Our coverage of tonight's Walescast debate will be coming to an end shortly.

Here is a recap of what happened:

Childcare

• Labour, Plaid and Reform were in agreement that scrapping the two-child benefits cap would pull thousands of children in Wales out of poverty
• The Welsh Conservatives Tom Giffard argued that some families will be better off financially out of work

The NHS

• The Welsh Tories said they would "declare a health emergency" in Wales, accusing the Welsh government of not spending enough money, which has contributed to hospital waiting lists
• Plaid's Delyth Jewell says she'd bring in an "executive triage service" - a centralised service to manage and prioritise patient referrals and waiting lists
• Reform's Llyr Powell would focus on improving training and recruitment

Senedd expansion

• The panellists clashed on the Senedd increasing from 60 to 96 Members
• Plaid's Delyth Jewell argued that Wales is the "most underrepresented nation in the UK"
• Welsh Tory Tom Giffard rebuffed this saying Plaid had Labour "over a barrel" when they agreed for the expansion to go ahead

Improving towns and cities

• Reform's Powell highlighted public transport connections and anti-social behaviour as key issues
• Tom Giffard said the Welsh Tories would scrap business rates "completely" for small businesses allowing them to thrive
• Labour's Jayne Bryant said the shift to online shopping has "changed our habits" and that Newport Market is an example of successful Welsh government investment

Following tonight's debate at the Lysaght Institute in Newport, here is a look back at some of the points the representatives from each party made.

We heard from Labour, Reform, Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives with just five months to go until the Senedd election.

They talked about a variety of issues affecting the people in Wales including NHS waiting times, the cost of living and the Senedd expansion.

A brand new set of constituencies has been created for May's Senedd election, with the electoral map being completely redrawn.

Click here for a brief guide to the new electoral map and check which new constituency you'll be voting in.

The debate saw clashes between parties on changes at the next election which will include the number of MSs in the Senedd increasing from 60 to 96.

Those supportive of the changes say a more proportional system will better reflect a diversity of views.

But critics say it puts too much power in the hands of parties and removes choice from voters.

You can read a more detailed explanation on the changes to the voting system in Wales by clicking here.

NHS set to be a major battleground next yearpublished at 20:57 GMT 3 December 2025

20:57 GMT 3 December 2025

Gareth Lewis
BBC Wales political editor

Image source, Getty Images

The NHS - and its long waiting times - is likely to be one of the major battlegrounds at next year's Senedd election, so it is little wonder that the panel and audience got stuck in tonight.

There was a plea to voters from Jane Bryant that sticking with two Labour governments would be the best option for extra funding to bring those lists down.

Voters will certainly have choices to ponder next May.

Both Plaid and the Conservatives would bring in more surgical hubs, Reform's plans would focus on training and retention.

Labour's dilemma was summed up by the first audience member to contribute: the party has had 26 years in power and a lot of voters do not appear to impressed by its record.

All this comes a day after Plaid suggested they were open to a deal to pass the Welsh Labour government's budget if there was more money for the health service.

David Deans
BBC Wales politics reporter

There were no major surprises from Jewell, Bryant and Giffard tonight - we heard a lot of the kind of thing we would expect from Plaid, Labour and the Tories.

But it was interesting to hear more from Llŷr Powell, who stood for Reform at the Caerphilly by-election and is likely to be a high-profile figure for his party next May.

Interesting, because Reform does not have full lists of candidates or a full list of policies.

In particular, Powell seemed to endorse the idea of shaking-up Welsh councils - something that former Labour minister Leighton Andrews tried to back in the 2010s in an attempt to reduce the number of Wales' 22 local authorities.

Opposition within Welsh Labour ranks - and perhaps the threat of councillors sitting on their hands during Senedd elections - saw Andrews' ideas swiped off the table in the end.

Tonight's Walescast debate has ended, but stick around for more analysis and reaction from everything we've heard.

You can watch the debate back in full at 22:40 GMT on BBC One Wales.

Reform politician's suspension discussedpublished at 20:39 GMT 3 December 2025

20:39 GMT 3 December 2025

Gareth Lewis
BBC Wales political editor

Image source, Getty Images

Reform's Llyr Powell, who is on the panel tonight, had the opportunity to take issue with Tom Giffard who commented on the absence of the only Reform MS Laura Anne Jones tonight because of her use of a racial slur on WhatsApp.

She returned to the Senedd today after a two-week suspension having apologised for the remark.

Powell sidestepped the issue by saying he "would not stoop" to Giffard's level, but then accused him of "looking for relevance".

It has been a tricky subject for Reform and Powell did not dwell on it.

Giffard says there has "26 years of the same ideas" with Labour "propped up" by Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats.

He says the Tories have a "plan to turn that around", while Reform have "come here without a plan".

Asked about poor polling for the Tories in Wales, he adds there was a long way to go to the Senedd election.

Jewell says there should not be one in three children in Wales living in poverty, blaming political decisions "from successive Westminster government" and Labour-led governments in Wales.

Bryant says there had been a "political choice" for 14 years of austerity.

Delyth Jewell said Plaid had published "detailed plans" and said Plaid would reform business rates, with the intention larger chains pay more.

Jayne Bryant says she remembers what Newport was like in the past. "We shop online, and that has really changed the nature of some of our habits," she says.

Newport has really started to pick up, she said, pointing to the changes at Newport Market which is now a food-hall following Welsh government investment.

The last question is on what parties will do to bring investment to town and cities.

Reform's Powell says parking charges are an issue, and bus connections, and deprived areas are suffering from a rise in anti-social behaviour.

"Local government reform needs to come in at some point," he says. Asked if he means changing the shape of councils, he agrees.

Plans from Welsh government to reform local government have come and gone in the past.

Giffard says "faffing about" with councils won't answer the questions. He says the Tories would scrap business rates "completely" for small businesses.

Why won't Reform speak to the Welsh government about their budget? Powell says Laura Anne Jones would be willing to sit at a table.

But he says: "The problem is the sound from the Welsh government is that there is no problem out there" in the NHS.

Giffard says the Tories have a list of demands from the Welsh government, including scrapping the Welsh version of stamp duty.

Reform "don't know what they think about anything", he claims and pointed to Laura Anne Jones's recent suspension for a racial slur.

Powell in response accuses the Tory Senedd leader Darren Millar of trying to "get his name out there".

Plaid Cymru has suggested it would be interested in a deal if more money is offered for councils and the NHS.

Delyth Jewell and Tom Giffard clash on the increased number of Senedd politicians at the next election.

Giffard says Plaid had Labour "over a barrel" after the last election and got them to agree to millions for the expansion of the Senedd, something he says was the wrong priority.

Jewell says: "Wales is the most underrepresented nation in the UK... This is about making sure the laws that get passed get passed properly".

Tom Giffard accuses the Welsh government of not spending enough money on the NHS, which he says has led to one in four people being on an NHS waiting list in Wales.

Welsh Tory Giffard says his party would "declare a health emergency", putting the "whole focus of the Welsh government on dealing with these waiting lists".

Plaid Cymru's Delyth Jewell says her party would bring in an "executive triage service" to make sure people can be seen efficiently, and "elective care hubs".

Reform's Powell says training and recruitment needed to be looked at. The amount of staff choosing to leave the NHS is "scary" too, he says.

Investment has "got to go to the right places", he says.

Audience member Leigh Richards says she is worried about the NHS. "How do you plan on bringing the horrendous waiting lists down?"

Labour minister Jayne Bryant thanks Leigh for raising the issue. "We've put extra investment [in] from having a UK Labour government," she says. "We want to eradicate all those two-year waits."

Put to her that the health service has repeatedly missed targets, she says staff are working "incredibly hard to get through the backlog of waits".

"People are being seen and they are being seen regularly."

Debate on two-child benefit cap continuespublished at 20:00 GMT 3 December 2025

20:00 GMT 3 December 2025

Gareth Lewis
BBC Wales political editor

Image source, Getty Images

The two-child benefits cap might have been scrapped, but the debate lives on.

The Conservatives can set themselves against the other parties on this: the UK Tory government brought it in and the Tories are against the decision to get rid of it.

We also got a taste of the wider debate on fairness following the UK government's Budget last week: who should pay higher taxes? Were the tax choices fair in the first place, and how much should be spent on welfare?

Reform's Powell says people are not feeling financially comfortable enough to have children.

His party had called for the two-child cap on benefits to be lifted.

"No one wants children in poverty," he says, adding that there should be incentives to bring people into work.

Reform's Llŷr Powell says the cost of energy is "one of the highest in Western Europe".

"People are worried about putting the heating on", he says.

After an audience member claims the Budget's tax changes would actually put more working families into poverty, the Conservative's Tom Giffard says there are families who are better off out of work.

Delyth Jewell says children don't choose to be born. "I deeply regret that it has taken so long" for Labour to remove the two-child cap, she says.

Jayne Bryant, a Welsh government minister, says 70,000 children in Wales will be lifted out of poverty because of changes to the two-child benefit cap in the Budget.

Bryant says she knows how "difficult" it had been for people during the cost-of-living crisis. But she adds: "We're making sure fairness is at the heart of what we are doing."

Plaid Cymru's Delyth Jewell says there were things her party would be demanding from Westminster to ensure things "are not as dire" and said the UK Labour budget "did not feel like a Labour budget".

Audience member Emily said many young people she is worried for her future. "We should be giving hope" to Emily's generation, Jewell says.

She says Plaid would try to "kick-start the economy" with a more generous offer for childcare.