AFTER months of speculation, voters in Montgomeryshire now know they will be heading to the polls just before Christmas.

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson having secured a General Election to be held on December 12, the battle for the Montgomeryshire seat is to begin in earnest.

In the last few months political parties have selected and announced their candidates to contest the constituency.

Residents are guaranteed to have a new face representing them in Parliament with Glyn Davies, who has held the seat for the Conservatives since 2010, announcing as far back as May his intention to stand down before the next General Election.

The man chosen to try and succeed him for the Conservatives is Llanfair Caereinion based Craig Williams, who was MP for Cardiff North from 2015 to 2017.

Before 2010, the seat had been held by the Liberal Democrats, and on this occasion they have turned to Kishan Devani, a member of the Conservatives until around 18 months ago.

Plaid Cymru has selected Elwyn Vaughan, a Powys County Councillor for the Glantwymyn ward, and the Labour Party has chosen Kait Duerden.

The Brexit Party candidate is Oliver Lewis, who has been a member of both the Conservative and Labour parties, and has admitted to being for 'Remain' until prior to the Brexit referendum in 2016. The Green Party have yet to announce a candidate.

At the last General Election in 2017, in Montgomeryshire, Glyn Davies took the seat for the Conservatives with 18,075 votes, beating Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats who gained 8,790 votes.

Ms Dodds, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, is the current MP for neighbouring Brecon and Radnorshire, having won a by-election there as recently as August.

In 2017, Labour's Iwan Wyn Jones came third with 5,542 votes, followed by Aled Morgan Hughes of Plaid Cymru on 1,960 votes, and Richard Chaloner of the Green Party on 524 votes.