Three-way race in all Shrewsbury town council wards

Names have been released of the 59 candidates who will be vying for 17 seats on the town council.

There will be at least five new faces, replacing current members who are not running for re-election.

The Labour party is contesting every ward, while there are also 16 Liberal Democrat candidates, 13 Conservatives, 12 Greens and one independent candidate.

Currently there are six Conservative councillors, five Labour, three Lib Dem, one Green and two independent members.

Both independents, Jane Mackenzie (Column) and Ioan Jones (Harlescott), are former mayors of Shrewsbury and were elected as Labour councillors but left the party in 2019. Neither will stand for re-election on May 6.

Also stepping down are long-serving Conservative councillors Peter Adams (Bowbrook) and Keith Roberts (Radbrook), as well as Liberal Democrat Hannah Fraser (Abbey).

All five departing members are also Shropshire councillors and are stepping down from the unitary council too.

Mayor Gwen Burgess is hoping to retain her Meole seat for the Conservatives, while deputy mayor Julian Dean, the first Green member elected to the town council in 2017, is bidding for re-election in Porthill.

In Bagley, current Conservative councillor Alex Phillips will be up against the Liberal Democrats’ Beverley Baker, who served on the town council from 2013 until 2017, when she lost the seat to Councillor Phillips. She was mayor from 2014-15.

Also standing in Bagley is the only independent candidate, Dr Peter Day, a member of Greenfields Community Group.

Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting, another former town mayor, is again standing in Copthorne for the Conservatives.

Meanwhile town council leader, Labour’s Alan Mosley, is standing for re-election in Castlefields and Ditherington.

The majority of current town councillors – 14 out of 17 – are also unitary councillors and the trend looks set to continue with 53 of the 59 town council candidates also standing for election to Shropshire Council.

The following is a full list of town council candidates:

Abbey: Ian Burgess (Con), Mary Davies (Lib Dem), Martyn Harris (Lab), Helen Campbell (Green)

Bagley: Alex Phillips (Con), Beverley Baker (Lib Dem), Paul Hollington (Lab), Peter Day (Ind)

Battlefield: Becky Wall (Con), Laura Hoskison (Lib Dem), Frankie Rickford (Lab)

Belle Vue: Saiful Chowdhury (Con), Byron Grainger-Jones (Lib Dem), Kate Halliday (Lab), Sara Mai (Green)

Bowbrook: Arlinda Ballcaj (Con), Alex Wagner (Lib Dem), Shay Corrigan (Lab)

Castlefields & Ditherington: Matthew Clark (Lib Dem), Alan Mosley (Lab), Peter Gilbert (Green)

Column: Louis Katz (Con), Ivana Novotna (Lib Dem), Rosemary Dartnall (Lab), Liz Evans (Green)

Copthorne: Peter Nutting (Con), Rob Wilson (Lib Dem), Ian Matthews (Lab)

Harlescott: Jeff Anderson (Con), Artur Fejfer (Lib Dem), Elisabeth Roberts (Lab), Matt Galliers (Green)

Meole: Gwen Burgess (Con), Bernie Bentick (Lib Dem), Phil Adams (Lab), Chris Davenport (Green)

Monkmoor: Adam Fejfer (Lib Dem), Pam Moseley (Lab), Jeremy Brown (Green)

Porthill: Graham Tate (Lib Dem), Anwen Davies (Lab), Julian Dean (Green)

Quarry & Coton Hill: Robin Hooper (Con), Nat Green (Lib Dem), Paul Forrest (Lab), Huw Peach (Green)

Radbrook: Susan Coleman (Con), Kevin Dovaston (Lab), Chris Lemon (Green)

Sundorne: Vijay Naidu (Lib Dem), Kevin Pardy (Lab), Gareth Egarr (Green)

Sutton & Reabrook: Simon Orr (Con), Rob Lea (Lib Dem), Phil Gillam (Lab), Diane Monether (Green).

Underdale: David Morgan (Con), David Vasmer (Lib Dem), Eddie Uyan (Lab)