SIX weeks of campaigning comes to a close today with residents set to go to the polls in the general election.

Candidates will find out if their campaigns have resonated with the public and volunteers will gather to run polling stations throughout the day.

Residents can vote at their nearest polling station between 7am and 10pm, with polls closing and ballots then transported to be counted.

In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, there are five constituencies, with a further three in Dorset and two in the New Forest.

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In Christchurch, previous MP Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative) is up against Joanna Howard (Labour), Mike Cox (Liberal Democrat), Susan Graham (Green Party) and Robin Adamson (Reform UK).

Previous Bournemouth East Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood is against Tom Hayes (Labour), Jon Nicholas (Liberal Democrat), Joe Salmon (Green Party), Martin Houlden (Reform UK), Kieron Wilson (independent) and Miles Penn (Social Democratic Party).

Across Bournemouth, those standing in Bournemouth West are Sir Conor Burns (Conservative), Jessica Toale (Labour), Jeff Hanna (Liberal Democrat), Darren Jones (Green Party), Ben Aston (Reform UK), David Warden (Social Democratic Party) and Julie Vivienne (Christian Peoples Alliance).

In Poole, Sir Robert Syms (Conservative) will be standing against Labour’s Neil Duncan-Jordan, The Liberal Democrat’s Oliver Walters, Green Sarah Ward, Reform UK’s Andrei Dragotoniu, UKIP’s Leanne Barnes and independent Joe Cronin.

BCP Council leader Vikki Slade is running against Conservative minister Michael Tomlinson in Mid Dorset and North Poole, along with Labour’s Candice Johnson-Cole, the Green Party’s Ben Pantling and the Social Democratic Party’s John Dowling.

For a list of candidates standing in the New Forest, North Dorset, South Dorset and West Dorset, visit the Bournemouth Echo website.

In order to vote, residents must bring accepted ID to the polling station.

To find your polling station, visit wheredoivote.co.uk.

When polls close, each ballot will be taken to the designated count locations to be verified and then counted.

For Christchurch, both Bournemouth constituencies and Poole, this will be at Kings Park leisure and learning centre.

MDNP will be counted alongside North Dorset at Blandford Leisure Centre, while West and South Dorset constituencies will be counted at Redlands Leisure and Community Park in Weymouth.

Results are expected to be declared between 4.30am and 5.30am. Follow live coverage on the Bournemouth Echo website throughout the night.