The countdown is on to the Bury Council elections, with more than a third of the agency’s seats up for grabs, when the polls open on Thursday, May 6th.
69 candidates will compete against each other in 17 areas of the district, with Conservatives, Labor and Liberal Democrats setting up a potential city council for each seat.
Bury consists of 17 stations, and each station is represented by three councilors.
Currently, the working group has control of the Bury Council, with twice the number of council members than the next largest group, the Conservatives.
Of the 51 council members they currently have 28 seats, the Conservatives 14 and the Liberal Democrats four.
Radcliffe First Hyperlocal Party has two council members while there is an independent member and two vacant seats.
Radcliffe First will be issuing candidates for each of the city’s three districts, while the Greens are hoping to receive assistance by listing candidates in a number of districts.
Victor Hagan will run as an independent candidate in Moorside, while Stephen Morris will run for the English Democrats in Besses and Michael Foran will stand for the Freedom Alliance in Tottington.
Two additional seats will be elected next week, with vacancies in North Manor and Moorside to be filled, meaning voters will choose two representatives in those areas.
That means 19 councilors will be elected to the town hall next week.
Among the councilors seeking re-election is Labor’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure Lucy Smith, while Tory Ian Schofield will defend his seat in Ramsbottom.
Jihyun Park, 52, who fled North Korea prior to settling in Bury in 2008, was selected as the Conservative candidate for Holyrood Township.
Ms. Park is believed to be the first person of North Korean descent to stand for election in the UK.
Key campaign questions for candidates include future housing policies in the community regarding green spaces and how best to support post-pandemic recovery.
Here is the full list of candidates (KEYS: Conservative (CON), Labor (LAB), Liberal Democrat (LD), English Democrat (ED), Green (GR), Radcliffe First (RF), Independent (IND);
Freedom Alliance (FA)
Besses: Cameron Fay (GR); Stephen Morris (ED); Lucy Smith (LAB); Philip Wharmby (CON); Mike Williams (LD)
Church: Lynd Arthur (LD); Jordan Lewis (CON); Michelle Sampson (GR); Josh Simons (LAB)
East: Ummrana Farooq (LAB); Stephen Lewis (LD); Shaf Mahmood (CON)
Elton: Jack Rydeheard (CON); Bryan Simpson (LD); Susan Southworth (LAB)
Holyrood: Christopher Baron (CON); Noel Bayley (LAB); Peter Curati (GR); Steven Wright (LD)
Moorside (two seats): Charlie Allen (GR); Ciaron Boles (LAB); David Foss (LD); Vicotor Hagan (IND); Jihyun Park (CON); Kevin Peel (LAB); Sohail Raja (CON)
North Manor (two seats): Ewan Arthur (LD); Roger Brown (CON); Helen Clarke (LAB); Liam Dean (CON); Mary Heath (GR), Euan Saunders (LAB)
Pilkington Park: Ayesha Arif (LAB); Russell Bernstein (CON); Glyn Heath (GR); Jaroslaw Lytwyn (LD)
Radcliffe East: Carol Birchmore (RF); Rhyse Cathcart (LAB); Rodney Rew (LD); Raymond Solomon (CON)
Radcliffe North: Babar Ibrahim (LAB); Kingsley Jones (LD); Jo Lancaster (CON); Glyn Marsden (RF)
Radcliffe West: Spencer Donelly (LAB); David Lewis (CON); Gareth Staple-Jones (RF); Sarah Thorpe (LD)
Ramsbottom: Tom Pilkington (LAB); Jacob Royde (LD); Ian Schofield (CON)
Redvales: Shabaz Arif (CON); Andrew Entwistle (LD); Shaheena Haroon (LAB); Paul Johnstone (GR)
Sedgley: Carol Bernstein (CON); Ugonna Edeoga (LD); Debbie Quinn (LAB)
St. Marys: Sam Butler (laboratory); Garet Lloyd-Johnson (LD); Antonello Riu (CON)
Tottington: Michael Foran (FA); Angela Graham (GR); Sandra Lloyd Johnson (LD); Luis McBriar (CON); William Sellers (LAB)
Unsworth: Nathan Boroda (LAB); Michael Hankey (LD); Anton Slawycz (CON)