Shropshire local elections 2025: A look at the key seats and prospects of the political parites, including Reform UK

All 74 seats on Shropshire Council will be up for grabs when polling stations open on May 1. A total of 22 new divisions have been created, with two – St Martins and Wem – comprising of two councillors.

The Conservatives hold the power with 37 seats, followed by the Liberal Demoracts (18), Labour (9), Independents (6) and Greens (3).

However, while one looking on the outside might think the Tories should regain power, it’s not cut and dry. Financial pressures have left the council close to bankruptcy, with many controversial savings needed to be made keep it above water. The multi-million pound North West Relief Road will no doubt also be on some voters mind in deciding who to vote for in Shrewsbury.

Shropshire Council’s current leader, Lezley Picton (Tern), has announced she won’t be standing in this election. The Conservative candidate for that division is William Rowland.

Other key Cabinet members hoping to be re-elected are Ian Nellins (climate change, envrionment and transport, and deputy leader – Market Drayton North), Dan Morris (highways – Burnell), and Chris Schofield (planning and regulatory services – Oswestry North East).

However, Dean Carroll, portfolio holder for housing and assets, won’t be standing this time. The Conservative candidate for his Battlefield division is Becky Wall.

The Lib Dems will no doubt feel confident it can eat into the Conservatives’ lead. The party is jointly led by Roger Evans (Longden) and Heather Kidd (Chirbury & Worthen). In 2021, Cllr Kidd won a whopping 83.84% of the vote in a two-horse race, while Cllr Evans claimed 67.58% competing against two other candidates.

Labour are headed by Rosemary Dartnall, who will be standing in Column. Whether national politics will sway people’s vote in the local elections will be interesting. The current Green councillors, meanwhile, are Duncan Kerr (Oswestry South), Julia Evans (Monkmoor) and Julian Dean (Porthill).

However, what will be fascinating this time round will be seeing how Reform UK will peform. In 2021, the party was only represented in two divisions, claiming a total of 97 votes. This time round though it will have someone competing for every seat.

There will also be eight indepdenents – but not Edward Towers, who claimed one of the two Wem seats in 2021.

A full list of all the candidates and how you can vote can be found here: Shropshire local elections 2025: Full list of candidates vying to be your next councillor