Voters across Chard and Ilminster have been filing to the polling stations to have their say on how the country is run.

Locally, you will be able to pick one of fi ve candidates; Marcus Fysh (Conservative ), Sheena King (Labour), David Laws (LibDem), Emily McIvor (Green Party), and Simon Smedley (UKIP).

There are also election s for Chard Town Council and Ilminster To wn Council, as we ll as re presentati ve s of South Somerset District Council.

Chard is split into five wards , but only two will be contested at the election – Av isha ye s and Jo celyn – as there are not enough candidates in the other three wards and candidates in those wards ha ve been elected unopposed. In Ilminster , all the seats are up for grabs .

The count will take place at Westlands Leisure Complex in Yeo il.

Counting for the constituency is expected to star t by 11pm with the results expected around 2½ hours later .

Counting for the district council will star t at 10am on Friday, while the town and parish councils will star t as soon as the district council count is ov er with all counts expected to finish by 4.30pm.

In 2010, David Laws secured the Yeovil seat with a majority of over 13,000 after a voting turnout of 74%.

The Conservatives have identified Yeovil as a key seat and it is expected that the result will be tighter this year.