THE race to the polls is hotting up with the general election now less than three weeks away and all candidates now confirmed.

The man tipped to be the country’s next prime minister – Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – stopped off in Halesowen on Thursday (June 13), at the Yeltz bar at Halesowen Town FC, to rally supporters for the final few weeks of the campaign.

Local Tory candidates have been hot-footing it around their constituencies - visiting community groups and highlighting causes to show local voters that politics isn’t all about what the party leader is up to.

Meanwhile, young Liberal Democrat councillor Ryan Priest, who found himself in the role of ‘kingmaker’ after the party’s success in the May local election, is now vying for a chance to be an MP.

Reform UK, who were this week reported to have overtaken the Conservatives in an opinion poll for the first time, are fielding candidates in all four of the constituencies of Dudley borough, as are the Green Party.

A number of independent candidates have also thrown their hats into the ring, as have a couple of representatives of the Workers Party.

Voters will go to the polls on Thursday July 4, with the votes set to be counted overnight at Stourbridge’s Crystal Leisure Centre.

Here’s the full list of candidates:

Stourbridge

Chris Bramall – Liberal Democrats

Cat Eccles – Labour Party

Stephen Price – The Green Party

Mohammed Ramzan - Workers Party of Britain

Richard Shaw – Reform UK

Suzanne Webb – Conservative Party

Dudley

Shakeela Bibi - Independent

Ian Flynn – Liberal Democrats

Aftab Hussain - Workers Party

Sonia Kumar – Labour Party

Marco Longhi – Conservative Party

Dharmanand Mortha – Independent

Zia Qari – The Green Party

Andrew Southall – Reform UK

Halesowen

Alex Ballinger – Labour Party

Emma Bullard – The Green Party

James Morris – Conservative Party

Jonathan Oakton – Reform UK

Ryan Priest – Liberal Democrats

Kingswinford and South Staffordshire

Gully Bansal – Liberal Democrats

Sally Benton – Labour Party

Gary Dale – Reform UK

Claire McIlvenna – The Green Party

Shaz Saleem – Independent

Mike Wood – Conservative Party