WINCHESTER voters go to the polls today in one of the closest seats in the country. 

A total of nine candidates will be on the ballot paper with the Conservative party looking to hold on to a majority of 985. 

The closest challenger is the Liberal Democrats with candidate Danny Chambers. The Lib Dems have identified Winchester as one of their target seats at 19th on the list. 

The Conservatives have put their hopes in former Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond. 

READ MORE: The Bishop Blaize in Romsey wins Pub of the Year

Winchester has been held by the Conservatives with the outgoing Steve Brine the MP since 2010. From 1997 to 2010 the seat was held by Mark Oaten for the Lib Dems. 

There were just four candidates in 2019. The Green Party has put forward a candidate, Lorraine Estelle, for the first time since 2017.

In Winchester the candidates in alphabetical order, are: Independent, Chris Barfoot; Liberal Democrat, Danny Chambers; Independent, Kevin D'Cruze; Social Democratic Party, Andrew Davis; Labour, Hannah Dawson; Conservative, Flick Drummond; Green, Lorraine Estelle; Hampshire Independents, Andy Liming; and Reform UK, Sean Whelan.

For up to the minute coverage on Thursday night and Friday morning  see the live blog on hampshirechronicle.co.uk.