Labour’s campaign to win the seat of Selby has received a last-minute boost in the form of a celebrity endorsement.

TV hardman Ross Kemp, a former Selby resident, appears in a video outlining his support for the party’s 25-year-old candidate Keir Mather.

The 58-year-old came to prominence as Grant Mitchell in Eastenders, before presenting shows on gangs and Afghanistan, and is now appearing in a Channel 5 thriller called Blindspot.

Mr Mather has also received a visit today (Thursday) from shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

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In the campaign, Mr Mather, who hopes to overturn a 20,000 Conservative majority, has received visits from Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer, along with their deputy Angela Rayner.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched the campaign, and the candidate also attracted support from other shadow cabinet ministers Jonathan Reynolds (business), Lisa Nandy (Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and Wes Streeting (Health and Social Care).

According to Keir Mather’s twitter account, other MPs who came to Selby and Ainsty include Kim Leadbetter (sister of murdered MP Jo Cox), Simon Lightwood, Shabona Mahmood, Stephanie Peacock, Yasmin Quereshi, Chi Onawurah, Lillian Greenwood, Anneliese Dodds, Louise Haigh, Judith Cummins and Ashley Dalton.

The Press approached Labour for comment.

The visits add to many others from Conservative Cabinet Members and others, who visited Selby to support their candidate Claire Holmes.

In the meantime, the polls have opened and will remain open until 10pm tonight.

Voters are asked to bring the required photo ID to the polling station.

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A result is not expected until 3-6am Friday morning, though North Yorkshire Council say they cannot guarantee a time due to the large number of candidates- 13 of them.

The candidates are: Andrew Philip Gray; Claire Holmes (Conservative); Mike Jordan (Yorkshire Party); Dave Kent (Reform UK); Keir Mather (Labour); Nick Palmer (Independent); Guy Phoenix (Heritage Party); Sir Archibald Stanton (The Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Matt Walker (Lib Dem): Arnold Francis Ignatius Warneken (The Green Party); John William Waterston (Social Democratic Party); Luke John Wellock (Climate Party); and Tyler Callum Wilson-Kerr (Independent)