Who's on Question Time tonight? The 5 panel members of the US election special - including Bryan Lanza

Fiona Bruce will once again return to the Question Time chair this evening, leading a panel of five experts through the hottest talking points in politics.

And this week the BBC debating show is travelling over the Atlantic for a US Election Special filmed in Philadelphia.

It comes as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fight one of the closest elections in history, following President Joe Biden’s decision to step down earlier this year.

The results will be known in less than a month, as the country goes to the polls on November 5.

That’s likely to be the main focus of the programme, but also expect questions about Hurricane Milton, which hit the coast of Florida last night, and the ongoing political situation in the Middle East.

Here are the five people who will be appearing on the panel - you can watch the programme on the BBC iPlayer from 8pm or on BBC One at 10.40pm.

Malcolm Kenyatta

Malcolm Kenyatta is a member of the Democratic Party who grew up in Philadelphia and has been the Pennsylvania state representative for the 181st district since 2019. He’s been involved in community activist and combating poverty since this age of 11 and has worked as a political consultant in numerous local and state elections. A stunch supporter of Joe Biden, he was appointed chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans by the current President last year. He is also a talented poet.

Martina White

Martina White is a Republican politician who has been a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 170th district since 2015. She became the first Republican to be elected in Philadelphia in 25 years, and is currently the only elected Republican in the area above city-county level. A trained financial advisor, she serves as the majority caucus secretary and is a member of the Rules Committee and the Committee on Committees.

Anthony Zurcher

Anthony is the BBC’s senior North American reporter, covering US politics and cultural happenings - having worked for the corporation since 2013. He is also a co-presenter of the BBC podcast Americast. In a varied career, he has covered the US Supreme Court, Congress, the technology sector and Texas state politics. Zurcher was born in California, grew up in Texas and attended college in Washington DC.

Mehdi Hasan 

Mehdi Hasan is a political commentator and broadcaster who was born in Swindon and, after studying at Oxford University, started his career as a researcher on ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme. He has since had a number of different jobs, including presenting The Mehdi Hasan Show on US television channels Peacock and MSNBC, writing columns for the Guardian, being Channel 4’s editor of news and current affairs and senior editor for politics at the New Statesman.

Bryan Lanza

Bryan Lanza is senior advisor to Donald Trum and specialises in public affairs and media strategy. He’s been a leading Republican strategist throughout his career, during several election campaigns at state and national level, and served as Communications Director for Donald Trump when he was first elected, tasked with organising a smooth, successful Cabinet appointment process and dealing with media inquiries. Prior to that he was Deputy Communications Director for the Trump-Pence Presidential campaign. He has also held key roles in the California government, including chief of staff tenures at the California State Senate and Assembly where he specialized in agriculture, health and transportation issues.