Chorley Council seats up for grabs as voters head to the polls
Candidates and their supporters are busy delivering leaflets and speaking to people as voters prepare to go to the polls next Thursday.
Chorley Council has 47 councillors spread over 20 wards, with the numbers of councillors per ward dependent on how many voters there are.
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Hide AdA third of the council is elected each year and councillors then represent the ward for four years.
There will be seats up for grabs in 15 of the borough’s 20 wards next week.
They are: Adlington and Anderton; Coppull; Brindle and Hoghton; Eccleston and Mawdesley; Chorley East; Euxton North; Chorley North East; Heath Charnock and Rivington; Chorley North West; Lostock; Chorley South East; Wheelton and Withnell; Chorley South West; Clayton-le-Woods and Whittle-le-Woods; and Clayton-le-Woods North.
Incumbent candidates across Chorley will be fighting to hold on to their seats, with opposition councillors vying to win new areas.
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Hide AdThe council is currently made up of 31 Labour councillors, 14 Conservatives and two independents.
Labour has had control of the council since 2012, when it brought to an end a short-lived Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition.
The size of Labour’s majority means it would take a big challenge from the Conservatives to see them lose their grip.
Labour and the Conservatives have candidates standing in every ward.
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Hide AdThe UK Independence Party are fielding seven candidates, the Liberal Democrats have five candidates, there are two independents and the Greens have one candidate.
Perhaps the biggest names on the ballot papers will be Alistair Bradley, in Chorley South East, and Peter Wilson, in Adlington and Anderton.
Coun Bradley is the leader of Chorley Council and the Labour group, while Coun Wilson is his deputy.
Contesting the Chorley South East seat with Coun Bradley is Conservative Dominic Jewell, UKIP’s Shaun Jones and Liberal Democrat David Porter.
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Hide AdStanding against Coun Wilson in Adlington and Anderton are Conservative Dorothy Livesey, Liberal Democrat Philip Pilling and Green Andrew Whitson.
Another familiar name to some will be independent candidate Steve Williams, a local historian and project manager for Chorley Remembers.
He will be standing in Brindle and Hoghton, alongside Conservative candidate Sheila Long and Labour’s Yvonne Hargreaves.
The incumbent is Conservative David Dickinson, who has represented Brindle and Hoghton since 2000 but announced he would step down due to ill health.
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Hide AdAlso not standing for re-election is Labour’s Robert Finnamore, who was elected in Coppull in 2012.
His seat will be contested by Conservative Harold Heaton, who represented Chisnall from 1997 to 2014, Labour’s Jane Fitzsimons and Liberal Democrat Simon Thomson.
The Chorley East ward is also up for grabs, as current Labour councillor Julia Berry is instead standing for election in Lostock.
She will face Conservative John Dalton, who currently holds the seat, and Liberal Democrat John Wright.
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Hide AdContesting the Chorley East seat will be Labour’s Zara Khan, whose mother Hasina Khan is a councillor in the ward, Conservative Aidy Riggott and UKIP’s Christopher Suart.
Hoping for a return to the council chamber is Peter Malpas, a former councillor and deputy chairman of Chorley Conservative Association.
He is standing in Heath Charnock and Rivington against Labour incumbent Kim Snape, who was elected in 2012 and is also a county councillor.
Labour’s Steve Holgate is also hoping to return to the council as he stands in Chorley North West.
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Hide AdHe will face incumbent Joyce Snape, who was elected as an independent councillor in 1998 and represents the ward alongside husband Ralph, who has been a councillor since 1976.
Also contesting the seat will be Conservative Sandra Mercer and UKIP’s Julia Smith.
Parish council elections are also being held in some wards.
They are Anderton; Rivington; Brindle; Withnell North; Heath Charnock; Withnell South and Hoghton.
There are also elections to elect the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire on the same day.
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Hide AdBelow is a list of candidates who will be standing in the Chorley Council elections:
Adlington and Anderton
Dorothy Livesey - Conservative
Philip William Pilling - Liberal Democrat
Andrew Whitson - Green
Peter Francis Wilson - Labour
Brindle and Hoghton
Yvonne Marie Hargreaves - Labour
Sheila Mary Long - Conservative
Steve Williams - independent
Chorley East
Zara Khan - Labour
Aidy Riggott - Conservative
Christopher Suart - UK Independence Party
Chorley North East
Adrian Lowe - Labour
Philip Adrian Ellis Loynes - Conservative
Tom Shorrock - UK Independence Party
Chorley North West
Steve Holgate - Labour
Sandra Mercer - Conservative
Julia Winifred Mary Smith - UK Independence Party
Joyce Snape - independent
Chorley South East
Alistair Ward Bradley - Labour
Dominic Keiran Jewell - Conservative
Shaun Jones - UK Independence Party
David Porter - Liberal Democrat
Chorley South West
Anthony Gee - Labour
Sarah Louise Kiley - Conservative
Clayton-le-Woods and Whittle-le-Woods
Glenda Charlesworth - Liberal Democrat
Mark Edward Clifford - Labour
Andrew Anthony Romanienko - UK Independence Party
John Philip Walker - Conservative
Clayton-le-Woods North
Jean Elizabeth Cronshaw - Labour
Eileen Whiteford - Conservative
Coppull
Jane Louise Fitzsimons - Labour
Harold Heaton - Conservative
Simon Thomson - Liberal Democrat
Eccleston and Mawdesley
Henry William Caunce - Conservative
Stanley Joseph Ely - Labour
Mark Smith - UK Independence Party
Euxton North
Danny Gee - Labour
Jeffrey Flinders Mallinson - UK Independence Party
Alan John Platt - Conservative
Heath Charnock and Rivington
Peter Malpas - Conservative
Kim Snape - Labour
Lostock
Julia Berry - Labour
John Derek Dalton - Conservative
John Patrick Wright - Liberal Democrat
Wheelton and Withnell
Christopher France - Labour
Andrew James Snowden - Conservative