General Election: What you need to know in the Border region

The country will go to the polls this summer after the Prime Minister called a surprise early election for 4 July 2024.

A lot has happened since 2019, including two more prime ministers, and Cumbria in particular, looks set to be a vital battleground again now.

Labour won the recent Cumbria Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner election comfortably, suggesting they're on course for major gains.

They'll hope to be the dominant force in the region again, to help deliver Keir Starmer in Downing Street, but Rishi Sunak clearly hopes that calling the election now is his best chance of defying the polls.

At the last general election on 12 December 2019, our region elected seven Conservative MPs and one Liberal Democrat MP.

The only seat that changed hands in our region was Workington, which Conservative Mark Jenkinson famously won from Labour, leaving our region without a single Labour MP.

A think tank identified "Workington Man", a northern, rugby-league fan and Brexit supporter, as a key target voter in the 2019 election.

Alister Jack has been Scottish Secretary since July 2019. He has said he will stand down as the MP for Dumfries & Galloway at the next general election and polls suggest that his seat may fall to the SNP.

Meanwhile, Trudy Harrison, the Conservative MP for Copeland, has confirmed she will also be stepping down at the next General Election.

Cumbria will be an area where Labour hope to make gains if they’re to win an election.

Constituency changes

New constituency boundaries in our region explained

The upcoming election will be fought with new constituencies after an independent boundary review has taken place to make constituencies around the country more equal in terms of population size.

Most of our seats have changed by boundaries, if not by name, with significant changes on the map.

Boundary changes also mean the region will lose one constituency, with seven seats being contested rather than the eight in the last election.

Carlilse's constituency will extend further up towards the border.

A new seat of Penrith & Solway will take in much of the old Workington & Penrith and the Border constituencies, stretching from Alston to Maryport and Keswick.

A new seat of Whitehaven & Workington will combine much of the old Copeland and Workington constituencies.

Barrow & Furness will extend further north than it currently does and Westmorland & Lonsdale will extend further north, taking in Appleby, but losing Sedbergh.

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