You’ve probably heard talk that a general election is going to happen this year.

But what do we know about when that is likely to be? And who are the candidates going to be for Worcester?

The first thing to say is that what we’re talking about here is different from the local elections taking place next week.

Those - on Thursday, May 2 - will see Worcester residents choosing their representatives on the city council as well as the West Mercia police and crime commissioner.

A general election sees voters across the country elect a member of parliament (MP) to represent their constituency in the House of Commons.

The UK is divided in 650 constituencies and the political party with the largest number of MPs gets to form a government, with its leader becoming prime minister.

When will the next election take place?

The current Parliament can be dissolved up to December 17 - five years to the day since it first met - but 25 working days are allowed to prepare for an election so January 28 next year is the latest a general election could be held.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in January his “working assumption” was that a general election would take place in the second half of this year.

And Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has hinted it could take place in October.

Who is standing to be Worcester’s MP?

Robin Walker, who has been the Conservative MP for Worcester since 2010, announced last year that he will not be standing again at the next general election.

The former schools minister said he had achieved many of the things he set out to do in Parliament and wanted to prioritise spending time with his family.

Mr Walker’s replacement as the Conservative candidate is former city council leader and county councillor Marc Bayliss.

Another former city councillor - Tom Collins - is the Labour candidate and was predicted to win with a 43 percent share of the vote by a YouGov poll in January.

Current city council candidates Mel Allcott, for the Liberal Democrats, and Tor Pingree, for the Green Party, are also confirmed as their parties’ candidates for the general election.