Voters are casting their ballots in a by-election sparked by the death of a former cabinet minister.

The Conservatives are hoping to hold on to the southeast London seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup in Thursday’s vote.

It comes after the death of incumbent James Brokenshire in October.

The former Northern Ireland secretary, who had represented the area since 2010, died from lung cancer.

His death led to tributes being paid from across the political spectrum.

Mr Brokenshire won the seat with a majority of almost 19,000 at the last general election in 2019.

The Tory candidate is local councillor Louie French, who served as deputy leader of Bexley Council from 2018 to 2021.

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Labour’s candidate is another local councillor, Daniel Francis. He is a former leader of the Labour group on Bexley Council.

Standing for the Liberal Democrats is Simone Reynolds, while Jonathan Rooks is representing the Greens and Richard Tice is standing for the Reform Party.

Other candidates include Elaine Cheeseman (English Democrats), Richard Hewison (Rejoin EU), David Kurten (Heritage Party), John Poynton (UKIP), Carol Valinejad (Christian Peoples Alliance), and Mad Mike Young (Official Monster Raving Loony Party).

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