FIVE candidates will battle for the marginal Warrington South seat in the general election on December 12.

The deadline to submit candidate nomination papers was 4pm today, Thursday.

In Warrington South, Labour’s Faisal Rashid is hoping to retain the seat.

He will be contesting it against Tory Andy Carter, Liberal Democrat Cllr Ryan Bate, the Brexit Party’s Clare Aspinall and the Social Democratic Party’s Kevin Hickson.

In Warrington North, Charlotte Nichols is Labour’s candidate.

It comes after Helen Jones, who has been Labour MP in the constituency for 22 years, decided to retire.

Wendy Maisey is standing for the Conservatives, David Crowther for the Liberal Democrats, Elizabeth Babade for the Brexit Party and Lyndsay McAteer for the Green Party.

Warrington South is a key battleground in the election.

In 2017, Mr Rashid secured a majority of 2,549 over former Tory health minister David Mowat.

Warrington North has always been held by Labour but its majority has been cut dramatically between 1997 to 2017 – from 19,527 to 9,582.