Battle lines drawn in Bristol elections

More than 100 candidates will be contesting 23 seats in this year's local elections on June 4.

A third of the city council's 70 seats are fought each year – except for the fourth year when none are held.

In North Somerset, three candidates are standing in a byelection following the death of Tory councillor Ian Peddlesden.

There are no local elections in South Gloucestershire or Bath and North East Somerset because they hold all-out elections every four years.

The city council is currently hung, which means no party enjoys overall control.

But the Liberal Democrats are currently running a minority administration which could be outvoted by Labour and Tory councillors if they voted together.

The current standings are Liberal Democrats, with 32 seats, Labour with 24, Tories, 13, and the Greens, with one.

Candidates from the right-wing British National Party will be fighting in eight seats.

It is believed that this is the highest number of BNP candidates to be fielded in the city's local elections.

Two of the BNP candidates are women. They are Christine Ogden, who is fighting the Horfield seat, and Janette Ashman, who is fighting in Lawrence Hill.

The BNP believes that the "native British people will be an ethnic minority in our own country within 60 years".

It believes in a policy of "voluntary resettlement whereby those immigrants who are legally here will be afforded the opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin assisted by a generous financial incentives both for individuals and for the countries in question".

The BNP also wants to see the death penalty re-introduced and corporal punishment brought back for "petty criminals and vandals".

The BNP polled 1.96 per cent of the votes in 2007 when 24 seats were contested. This compares with Labour (29.67 per cent); Lib Dems (27.21 per cent); Conservatives (25.20 per cent); Green Party (14.24 per cent); Respect (0.86 per cent); UK Independence Party (0.44 per cent); Independent (0.25 per cent); Socialist Alternative (0.18 per cent).

 

Here are the candidates for the 23 seats:

Key:

BNP – British National Party

Con - Conservative

Eng Dem – English Democrats

Green - Green Party

Lab - Labour

Lib Dem - Liberal Democrat

Respect - Respect

Ashley:

Josephine Benefield (Respect); Mazhar Iqbal (Lab); Marian Ena Ovonlen (Con); Daniella Else Radice (Green); Jon Charles Rogers (LD)

Avonmouth:

Pauline Mary Allen (LD); Ronald Colston George (BNP); Siobhan Kennedy-Hall (Con); Brian Peter Mead (Lab); Justin Michael Quinnell (Green); Stephen Michael Wright (Eng Dem)

Bishopston:

Martin Harry Harvey (Green); David Ian Jepson (Lab); Beverley Arthur Knott (LD); Richard Jonathan Zaltzman (Con)

Cabot:

Donald Brown (Green); Rebecca Gordge (Lab); Adam Beda Tayler (Con); Mark Michael Wright (LD)

Clifton:

Trevor John Blythe (LD); Rosemary Patricia Chamberlin (Lab); Gundula Audrey Hidde Dorey (Green); Harriet Alice Ann Levett (Con)

Clifton East:

Simon Timothy Cook (LD); John Mark Hills (Green); Laurence David Newman (Lab); Stephen Simmons (Con)

Cotham:

Geoff Collard (Green); Eleanor Louise Downey (Con); Anthony Leonard Negus (LD); Karin Marguerite Smyth (Lab)

Easton:

Mohammed Arif (Lab); Katherine Jane Buse (Green); John Francis Kiely (LD); David Thomas Harrison Lewis (Con); Mohammed Ouammi (Respect)

Eastville:

Steven Robert Comer (LD); Derek Albert Edward Fey (Con); Glenn Vowles (Green); Michael Arthur Wollacott (Lab)

Frome Vale:

Barry John Cash (LD); Colin Richard Chidsey (BNP); Josephine McLellan (Green); William Charles Payne (Lab); James Andrew Hale Stevenson (Con)

Henbury:

Raymond Christopher Carr (Eng Dem); Christopher William Luffingham (LD); Derek Stephen Pickup (Lab); Nigel Pready (Green); Christopher John Windows (Con)

Henleaze:

Stephen John Meek (Green); Glenise Sweeting Morgan (LD); Elizabeth Radford (Con); Judith Mary Sluglett (Lab)

Hillfields:

Noreen Patricia Daniels (Lab); John Patrick Hassell (LD); Malcolm David Lake (Con); Christopher David Pegler (BNP); Leon Roman Quinn (Green)

Horfield:

Cheryl Ann (LD); Judith Clare English (Green); Christine Margaret Ogden (BNP); Kathleen Rosalie Walker (Lab); Rowland Henry Webb (Con)

Kingsweston:

Adrian Peter Clarke (Con); Jacqueline Ann Hearn (Green); Judith Margaret Price (Lab); Simon Rayner (LD)

Lawrence Hill:

Janette Dunster Ashman (BNP); Nsearen Begum (Con); Rachel Eleanor Gingell (LD); Brenda Patricia Hugill (Lab); Christine Prior (Green)

Lockleaze:

David Alexander Bradley (Lab); Jeremy Richard Hicks (Respect); John William Hooper (BNP); Anthony Paul Lee (Con); Guy James Baiden Poultney (LD); Christina Mary Quinnell (Green)

Redland:

James Michael Barlow (Con); Fiona Louise Hance (LD); David Michael Joseph (Green); Helen Frances Sproates (Lab)

Southmead:

Jacqueline Greta Bowles (LD); Peter Warren Hammond (Lab); Toby Hector (Eng Dem); Lela Helen McTernan (Green); Kyle Robert Smith (Con)

St George East:

Michael John Carey (BNP); Graham Hugh Davey (Green); Paul Elvin (LD); Alexander William Pearce (Con); Charles Stanley Price (Lab)

St George West:

Colin Robert Bretherton (Con); Nicholas James Foster (Green); Emma Jane Nyhan (LD); Lee Pickering (Eng Dem); Christopher Richard Stocks (BNP); Ronald Edward Stone (Lab)

Stoke Bishop:

Peter John Abraham (Con); Jeremy Mark James (LD); Dianne Elizabeth Manning (Lab); Keith Vivian Wiltshire (Green)

Westbury-on-Trym:

Sara Shelley Box (Eng Dem); Graham Christopher Donald (LD); John Alexander Dunn (Green); Geoffrey Richard Gollop (Con); Arthur Massey (Lab)

North Somerset and Locking ward:

Jennifer Bindon (LD); Terry Porter (Con); and Tim Taylor (Lab)