It's been confirmed that Cllr Paul Hodgkinson will face off against the area's MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown when voters go to the polls this year in the new North Cotswolds seat.

Cllr Hodgkinson has lived in the Cotswolds and Stroud for 35 years.

He said: "I have made our beautiful area my home and set up my small business here. With national politics so volatile, an election is imminent - I aim to stand up for those who feel disconnected from the decisions, appalling behaviour and chaos seen in Westminster.

"I want to give the area I live in a real voice, getting things done and giving hope for the change which a lot of people crave after 14 years of broken services."

Cllr Hodgkinson has been elected to Cotswold District Council and Gloucestershire County Council seven times - winning the rock solid Conservative seat of Bourton and Northleach after previously representing Bisley in the 1990s. He was also leader of the opposition on both councils and is the CDC cabinet member for health, leisure and culture.

With a strong record of campaigning for local people, Cllr Hodgkinson has campaigned for better ambulance response times, safer roads and has challenged the Cotswolds MP over his second earnings and for failing to be tough on the water companies over the sewage scandal. He previously stood for Parliament for the Cotswolds in 2015 and for Stroud in 1997.

Now, following on from the Lib Dem breakthrough in being the leading party on Tewkesbury Borough Council and in running Cotswold District Council for the last five years, Cllr Hodgkinson sees an opportunity for change:

He added: "On the back of by election wins all over the country by the Lib Dems, the North Cotswolds is part of the so called 'Blue Wall'. Mr Clifton-Brown has had 32 years to get things fixed and has sadly failed. He was ranked as the worst MP in the country (650th out of 650) for responsiveness to local residents in the 'People Power Index'. We demand better."

The new North Cotswolds constituency includes half of the Cotswold district with iconic villages like Bourton, the communities of Brockworth, Churchdown and Shurdington in the Tewkesbury Borough and parts of the Stroud District such as Painswick.