The final candidates hoping to be the new MP for Runcorn and Helsby have now been revealed.

Voters head to the polls in just a few weeks with new boundaries having been drawn following a nationwide shake-up.

Under the new constituency borders, East Runcorn has been taken from the old constituency of Weaver Vale along with Helsby and Frodsham and put together with the remainder of the town of Runcorn – which used to be in the now defunct Halton constituency.

The seven candidates are:

  • Mike Amesbury - Labour Party
  • Danny Clarke - The Liberal Party
  • Chris Copeman - Green Party
  • Jade Marsden - Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Jason Moorcroft - Reform UK
  • Paul Murphy - Social Democratic Party (SDP)
  • Chris Rowe - Liberal Democrats

The new seat has an electorate of 70,451 and also includes the Gowy Rural ward, including the village of Elton, transferred from Ellesmere Port and Neston, and Guilden Sutton, transferred from City of Chester constituencies.

The boundary shake-up is part of national changes which has seen some constituencies merged and others torn up altogether. The purpose was to ensure an equal number of voters in each constituency, with the previous electoral map having existed since 2010.

The changes only relate to parliamentary elections and which MP represents each area. Halton will continue to be a unified borough under one council and all council wards will remains the same.

The number of seats in the House of Commons will also remain the same, after previous plans to reduce the number of seats from 650 to 600 were abandoned in 2020.  England will gain 10 seats, Scotland will lose two, Wales will lose eight, and the number of Northern Irish seats will remain the same.

Polling takes place on Thursday, July 4, and voters must take photo ID to the polling station. Anyone without photo ID can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate but must do so by June 26.

Further Information about acceptable forms of ID and how to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate can be found here.