General election 2019 candidates: Who is standing in my constituency?

When it comes to a general election, while you might have views on which party should be running the country or who should be Prime Minister, you only really get one choice - who your MP is.

Under the current voting system in the UK, voters choose from several candidates in their own constituency.

The winning candidates from each constituency then become MPs, with the party with the most MPs forming a government and running the country.

How do you find out who is standing in your constituency?

Now a general election has been called, current MPs will lose their status and have to campaign to be re-elected.

Nomination papers for prospective candidates have to be submitted on the 19th working day before the election, so the deadline passed on Friday, November 15.

Once submitted, candidates are posted on local authority websites.

You’ll probably also hear from the candidates as they try to win support through leaflets, social media, their own websites and knocking on people’s doors in their constituency.

The BBC has a helpful tool where you can locate your constituency and reveal who is standing for election.

How many MPs are there in the UK?

There are 650 MPs in the UK - one for each parliamentary constituency.

Once elected, MPs hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

If, for some reason, they cannot continue to be an MP, that can trigger a by-election for a replacement to be voted in.

Who is eligible to stand as an MP?

To stand as an MP, you have to be over 18, a British citizen or citizen of a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland.

You’re disqualified from standing as an MP if you have been convicted of an offence and sentenced to be imprisoned or detained for more than a year and are detained anywhere in the UK.

Civil servants, members of the armed forces, judges, and peers who sit in the House of Lords are also disqualified from becoming an MP.

How do you become a candidate for a general election?

Candidates have to be nominated by ten parliamentary electors of the constituency they wish to stand in.

If they want to stand for a particular party they have to be authorised, or can be described as independent.

Candidates have to stump up a £500 deposit. They get that back if they receive more than 5% of the total votes cast.

How does the voting system work?

When it comes to the election, voters in each constituency vote for their favourite candidate.

The candidate with the most votes then wins, becoming MP for that constituency. They go on to represent their constituents in Westminster as one of 650 MPs.