One hundred and thirty six candidates to run in NI
By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI political correspondent
BBC
A total of 136 candidates are standing for election in Northern Ireland in the general election on 4 July, the Electoral Office has said.
In the general election five years ago, 102 people put their name forward.
Only two of the main parties – Alliance and the SDLP – are contesting all of Northern Ireland’s 18 constituencies.
Nominations closed on Friday but the voter registration deadline is 18 June.
Sinn Féin is not running in the constituencies of Belfast South and Mid Down, Belfast East, Lagan Valley or North Down.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is standing aside in the constituencies of Fermanagh and South Tyrone and North Down, but is fighting the remaining 16 seats.
The Ulster Unionist Party is standing in 17 constituencies, after its leader Doug Beattie confirmed on Thursday that it would not field a candidate in Belfast North.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, which did not run any candidates in the last general election five years ago, is running 14 candidates this time.
It applied to run its candidates under a joint banner of “TUV/Reform UK” on ballot papers, but that was rejected by the Electoral Office so it is running under “TUV no sea border”.
The Green Party is running in 11 areas and Aontú will stand candidates in the general election for the second time, with 10 candidates in the race.
The NI Conservative Party is fielding candidates in five constituencies, while People Before Profit is running three candidates.
There are also nine independent candidates while Cross-Community Labour Alternative is fielding a candidate.
Forty-five of the candidates are women – representing about 30% of the total – that is up from 28 women candidates in 2019.
When is the deadline to register to vote?
If you want to vote in the general election, you must register by 18 June. This can be done online, external or by submitting a paper form to your designated electoral office.
Postal or proxy vote applications must be submitted by 14 June.
Voting will take place on 4 July from 07:00 BST until 22:00.
