The Green Party will not be able to put up a candidate in South Swindon.

But the party will be campaigning in North Swindon.

Steve Thompson was expected to be nominated as the candidate to face incumbent Robert Buckland, but he withdrew earlier this week citing personal reasons.

Party members met to see if the could find a new candidate on Wednesday but two days before the nomination deadline were defeated.

Andy Bentley will be standing in North Swindon against sitting Conservative Justin Tomlinson.

He said: “We’d like to thank everyone who’s been in touch to offer their sympathies to Steve since his announcement.

“The short notice has meant we were unable to find a local candidate in time. The local party is not endorsing another candidate. We deeply regret there being no Green Party candidate for our members and supporters in South Swindon. I’ll be representing us in North Swindon so anyone who wants to can vote for a candidate and the only party who has been consistently pro-Europe, anti-austerity and recognises the climate crisis as the number one issue facing us.”

Labour will be fielding Kate Linnegar and the Liberal Democrats Katie Critchlow in North Swindon.