Voters head to the polls in Rochdale by-election

There are 11 candidates seeking to replace Sir Tony Llloyd and represent Rochdale in the House of Commons

Polls opened in the Rochdale by-election this morning at 7am.

The by-election was called after the death of Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who died in January after a battle with leukaemia.

There are 11 candidates seeking to replace Llloyd and represent Rochdale in the House of Commons.

The seat, which has historically been a Labour/Liberal Democrat marginal seat, was held by Labour at the 2019 general election.

Lloyd won a majority of 9,668 at a turnout of 60.1 per cent.

In 2019 he held it with 24,475 votes - a vote share of just over 51 per cent.

Conservative candidate Atifa Shah came in second place with 14,807 votes, a vote share of 31 per cent.