Only 12 candidates for 14 seats on Wem Town Council

With just 12 people coming forward to contest the 14 available seats, all candidates are elected unopposed.

There will therefore be no town council election on May 6 as planned, though voters will still cast their ballots in the Shropshire Council and West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner elections on the same day.

Seven candidates fill the seven seats representing the town’s East ward while only five people came forward for the seven seats in West ward.

The majority of candidates are already town councillors, though there is one newcomer – Mark Hoffman – as well as a former councillor making a comeback.

Rosemary Dodd was co-opted onto the town council in 2013, and served as mayor from 2016 to 2017. She later stood down but will return to the council chamber next month.

Among the current town councillors to be re-elected is current mayor Phil Glover.

Four serving councillors are to stand aside, including George Nash and Kerry Edge, who both represent West ward.

Meanwhile two past mayors, Chris Mellings and Pauline Dee, are stepping down in East ward.

They are both also stepping down from Shropshire Council, having held the town’s two unitary seats since the authority was formed in 2009.

Councillor Mellings is a Liberal Democrat member while Councillor Dee is independent – making Wem the only area of North Shropshire never held by the Conservatives.

Hoping to change that is current town councillor and former mayor Peter Broomhall, who is re-elected to represent West ward, and is one of two Conservative candidates for the unitary council seats.

But he will face opposition from fellow returning town councillors Geoff Soul and Edward Towers. Councillor Soul is standing for the Liberal Democrats while Councillors Towers, another former mayor, is independent.

The candidates are as follows:

East (seven seats): Roger Drummond, Andy Everett, Mark Hoffman, Paul Johnson, Mandy Meakin, Geoff Soul, Edward Towers

West (seven seats): Peter Broomhall, Rosemary Dodd, Philip Gover, Connie Granger, Duncan Hill