General election guide: all the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre candidates, boundary changes and the current state of play

This is how the contests are shaping up in the four seats across the Fylde coast – including all the major boundary changes you need to know about – ahead of the big vote on 4th July:

***BLACKPOOL NORTH AND FLEETWOOD

Candidate list

Dan Barker - Reform UK

Lorraine Beavers - Labour Party

Jan Creswell - Social Democratic Party

Gita Gordon - Independent

Bill Greene - Liberal Democrats

Paul Maynard (sitting MP for for Blackpool North and Cleveleys until 30th May) - Conservative Party

Tina Rothery - Green Party

James Rust - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

State of play

The re-emergence of a constituency that was scrapped in 2010 and which will take in parts of the abolished Blackpool North and Cleveleys and Lancaster and Fleetwood seats.

It previously existed between 1997 and 2010 and was Labour held for all of its 13 years. However, Blackpool North and Cleveleys has been the preserve of the Tories since its formation in 2010 and the MP throughout that time, Paul Maynard, is contesting the seat once again. He is defending an 8,596 majority.

The current Labour holder of the Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency is standing in the new Lancaster and Wyre seat, while the party will field the deputy opposition group leader of Lancashire County Council, Lorraine Beavers, in Blackpool North and Fleetwood.

The new Blackpool North and Fleetwood seat is 110th on Labour’s target list by virtue of the size of the swing needed to gain it from the Conservatives. That calculation - made on behalf of the Press Association - is based on a notional result from the 2019 election, had the constituency existed then.

Major boundary changes

The Carleton and Stanah wards will move in from the axed Wyre and Preston North, along with the central and southern parts of the Marsh Mill ward that are not already part of Blackpool North and Cleveleys.

Meanwhile, the Park, Pharos, Rossall and Warren wards will join from Lancaster and Fleetwood. The Claremont, Clayton, Park (different to the aforementioned) and Warbreck wards will shift into Blackpool South.

***BLACKPOOL SOUTH

Candidate list

Stephen Black - Independent

Mark Butcher - Reform UK

Andrew Cregan - Liberal Democrats

Zak Khan - Conservative Party

Kim Knight - Alliance for Democracy and Freedom

Ben Thomas - Green Party

Chris Webb (sitting MP until 30th May) - Labour Party

State of play

Barely had the campaign banners come down in Blackpool South after May’s high-profile by-election in the constituency than the general election was called.

Chris Webb, the new Labour MP for the seat, secured a 26 percent swing to take it from the Conservatives - the third-biggest Tory-to-Labour shift since 1945 - after Scott Benton stood down following a lobbying scandal. The former is now defending a 7,607 majority, compared to the 3,690 won by Scott Benton in 2019 - and on a much lower turnout at the by-election poll.

The Conservatives were within just over 100 votes of coming third, behind Reform UK, in the by-election. The Tories have chosen a different candidate, Zak Khan, for the general election, while Reform have once again selected Mark Butcher.

Major boundary changes

The Claremont, Clayton, Park and Warbreck wards join the seat from the soon-to-be-defunct neighbouring Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.

***FYLDE

Candidate list

Anne Aitken - Independent

Tom Calver - Labour Party

Mark Jewell - Liberal Democrats

Cheryl Morrison - Alliance for Democracy and Freedom

Andrew Snowden - Conservative Party

Brenden Wilkinson - Green Party

Brook Wimbury - Reform UK

State of play

Previous MP Mark Menzies - who has represented the seat since 2010 - announced in April he was standing down after an investigation by the Conservative Party found he had shown a “pattern of behaviour” that fell below the standard expected of MPs - although he was cleared of claims he had misused party funds. He had already resigned the Tory whip and ended his tenure as an independent.

Former Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden has been chosen to contest the seat for the Tories.

Mr. Menzies secured a healthy majority of 16.611 back in 2019 and a 60.9 percent vote share in a seat that has been won only by the Tories in a history which dates back to 1918. The constituency disappeared in 1950, before being re-formed in 1983.

Major boundary changes

The Breck, Hardhorn with High Cross and Tithebarn wards will join from the axed Wyre and Preston North constituency.

The parts of the Ingol and Cottam and Lea and Larches wards that currently sit in Fylde will move into the Preston seat.

***LANCASTER AND WYRE

Candidate list

Nigel Alderson - Reform UK

Peter Cartridge - Conservative Party

Jack Lenox - Green Party

Matt Severn - Liberal Democrats

Cat Smith (sitting MP in Lancaster and Fleetwood until Parliament was dissolved) - Labour Party

State of Play

A re-formed constituency for the 2024 election - having previously existed between 1997 and 2010 - it will absorb parts of the current Wyre and Preston North and Lancaster and Fleetwood seats, which are both being abolished.

The previous Wyre and Preston North Conservative MP Ben Wallace - who was first elected in 2005 to the old Lancaster and Wyre seat - is not standing for election again this year. He won by a comfortable majority of 16,781 votes at the last election in 2019. The previous Lancaster and Fleetwood Labour MP Cat Smith is contesting the redrawn constituency. She enjoys a majority of 2,380 in her present seat.

Wyre and Preston North has been Conservative held since it was formed in 2010, while Lancaster and Fleetwood was also taken by the Tories when it was created the same year, but was snatched by Labour in 2015 and has been retained by them ever since.

The new Lancaster and Wyre seat is 30th on Labour’s target list by virtue of the size of the swing needed to take it from the Conservatives. That calculation - made on behalf of the Press Association - is based on a notional result from the 2019 election, had the constituency existed then.

Major boundary changes

In the Preston City Council area, the Greyfrairs, Sharoe Green, Preston Rural North and Preston Rural East wards - totalling more than 23,000 residents - will all shift into the revamped Ribble Valley constituency from their current home in Wyre and Preston North. The Garrison and Cadley wards will move from that constituency into the Preston seat.

The Skerton East and Skerton West wards will move into the new Lancaster and Wyre constituency from their present home in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

New seat’s boundaries

The full list of wards which fall under the new Lancaster and Wyre seat is: Brock with Catterall, Calder, Garstang, Great Eccleston, Hambleton and Stalmine, Pilling, Preesall and Wyresdale - all in the Wyre Council area - and Bulk, Castle, Ellel, John O'Gaunt, Marsh, Scotforth East, Scotforth West, Skerton East, Skerton West, and University and Scotforth Rural, in the Lancaster City Council area.