Bolton's constituencies look likely to be battlegrounds between the Conservative Party and Labour Party for the coming weeks after the announcement of a general election.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the general election with a sodden speech to the tune of Things Can Only Get Better at 10 Downing Street on May 22.

Both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have a hold in the area as it stands as Conservative MPs Mark Logan and Chris Green represented Bolton North and Bolton West and Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi represented Bolton South in the House of Commons.

The constituencies look likely to be battlegrounds between the two parties for the weeks leading up to the election, although there are a number of other parties, the polls suggest their role is to be reduced to tipping the balance between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

BOLTON NORTH
At the last general election Conservative MP Mr Logan won Bolton North by a margin of around 380 votes. However, at this general election a YouGov poll from last month* has the Labour Party candidate Kirith Entwistle winning with 52 per cent of the vote.

The other candidates at this time are believed to be Rebecca Forrest (Liberal Democrat), Trevor Jones (Reform UK), Hanif Alli (Green) and Kevin Allsop (Independent).

BOLTON WEST
At the last general election Conservative MP Mr Green won Bolton West by a margin of around 8,860 votes. However, at this general election a YouGov poll from last month* has the Labour Party candidate Phil Brickell winning with 44 per cent of the vote.

The other candidates at this time are believed to be Donald McIntosh (Liberal Democrat), Dylan Evans (Reform UK) and Vicki Attenborough (Green).

BOLTON SOUTH
At the last general election Labour MP Ms Qureshi won Bolton South by a margin of around 7,600 votes. At this general election a YouGov poll from last month* has Ms Qureshi winning with 60 per cent of the vote against the Conservative Party candidate Mohammed Afzal.

The other candidates at this time are believed to be Gemma-Jane Bowker (Liberal Democrats), Julie Pattison (Reform UK), Phillip Kochitty (Green) and Jack Khan (Workers Party of Britain).

The Bolton News: L to R: Mark Logan, Chris Green, Yasmin Qureshi

The constituencies are undergoing boundary changes as a result of a review by the Boundary Commission last year.

The biggest changes are in Bolton South which is letting go of Little Lever and Darcy Lever Ward to Bolton North and Hulton Ward to Bolton West.

It is letting in the wards of Walkden North, Walkden South, and Little Hulton in spite of some opposition to the idea over the course of a consultation.

A report said: "Although there was opposition to the inclusion of the town of Walkden in the Bolton South constituency no appropriate alternatives were submitted.

"Elsewhere there was little opposition to the other constituencies we proposed for the boroughs of Bolton and Bury."

Apart from letting in Little Lever and Darcy Lever Ward, there are no other changes to Bolton North. As well as letting in Hulton Ward, Bolton West is letting go of Atherton Ward to a new Leigh and Atherton constituency.

Although the wards are changing constituencies there is no impact on Bolton Council. The review, which affects all of the constituencies in England, aimed to balance the electorate between areas ahead of a general election.

*The YouGov poll is available at yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49061-yougov-mrp-labour-now-projected-to-win-over-400-seats.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.