Harris sets out her vision to convince US to elect its first female president

Kamala Harris faced the biggest test of her political life last night: addressing the Democratic National Convention in an effort to persuade American voters to defeat Donald Trump in November's presidential election and put her in the White House.

- Lauren Gambino

The vice-president's rocket-fuelled campaign is still barely a month old after Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race after a disastrous debate performance and amid questions over his age and mental acuity.

Harris and her vice-presidential pick, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, have quickly changed the election's narrative, turning a solid Trump lead in the polls over Biden into a small but clear advantage over the former Republican president.

In addressing the Democratic convention - and the wider US electorate watching in their millions on television Harris aimed to make a direct pitch to voters to back her vision for the country.

Last night's theme was "For Our Future". After another long list of speakers cabinet secretaries, senators, governors, members of Congress and political activists - the evening was set to end with Harris's historic acceptance speech in which she would become the first woman of colour to accept a major party's presidential nomination.

Harris's campaign has sought to portray a more optimistic, future-focused view of the country than her rival, and perhaps also than that of the president, who had based much of his pitch on dark warnings of Trump's autocratic sympathies.

Over the course of the week at the convention in Chicago, the audience has heard from the Democratic party's most powerful players, who threw their support unequivocally behind Harris.

Biden, Barack and Michelle Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi all gave prime-time speeches, as did some of the party's rising stars, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.