ALL the candidates for the Stroud seat in the upcoming General Election have been announced.

Below is a rundown of each of the five candidates.

The Conservatives

The incumbent in Stroud is Neil Carmichael who first won his seat in 2010, he has competed in four general elections in the past; 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2015.

He won with a majority of 1,299 in 2010, going on to increase his majority in 2015 to 4,866.

After selection, Mr Carmichael said: “It has been a great honour to have served as MP for the Stroud Valleys and Vale for the past seven years.

“This is where my home is, where my family grew up and where many of my friends live.

“I want to continue to serve our communities in Parliament and help to shape the politics of our nation.”

Labour

Veteran Labour former-MP David Drew is back again with another run for the seat of Stroud.

Mr Drew has run the last six general elections; 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015.

He had originally ruled himself out of running again after his 2015 loss, but has returned for this snap election saying: “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

“This is why, despite announcing my retirement from the front line of politics in 2015, I will be standing in the 2017 General Election.

“We must stop the Tories getting a landslide, and I am the only candidate who can beat our Conservative MP.

“The last thing the country needs is more Tory MPs following a dangerous and divisive dogma.”

UKIP

The party came third in 2015 with Caroline Stephens, this was their best ever result winnign 8 per cent of the vote.

This time around UKIP Stroud Chairman Glen Gogerly is standing, previously a candidate in the recent Gloucestershire County Council elections.

After the general election was called, Mr Gogerly said: “The PM was opportunistic in calling for an early election, based on dire polls for the Labour party and Mrs May’s need for validation. 

"Neil Carmichael is a Remain supporter - can the electorate really trust him to deliver what his party and leader want?

"Labour is imploding - many of its core voters say they won’t vote for them because of Jeremy Corbyn. Only UKIP can deliver on Brexit."

Greens

The Greens have put forward Sarah Lunnon for the second time.

In 2015 she came fourth with 4.6 per cent of the vote, and after their impressive result in the county council elections, winning their second council seat, they will be hoping to get a second seat in Westminster.

The Greens were looking to have an electoral pact in Gloucestershire that didn’t materialise due to Labour wanting to stand a candidate in every constituency.

After the election was called Ms Lunnon said: “This is basically a second referendum, Theresa May is seeking a mandate to throw us off the Brexit cliff, for a little island 1950s backward vision of Britain, we don't have to agree to it.”

Liberal Democrats

Coming in last place out of all the major parties last time, the Lib Dems will be looking to improve after their disastrous performance in 2015.

They are putting themselves forward as the overtly pro-EU party in this election, they are looking to have a referendum at the end of the Brexit process in 2019 so the British people can have a view whether to accept the deal or not.

Max Wilkinson is the Lib Dem’s candidate in this election, he said after the election was called: “People in Stroud voted decisively to remain in the European Union, and certainly did not ask for the extreme Brexit that the Tories are pursuing which is backed by Labour.”