Candidates get in line to fight for votes
THIS year’s local elections will be held on May 6. Rochdale holds elections by thirds, meaning a third of seats are contested each year for three years, followed by a year when no elections are held.
Currently, Rochdale Borough Council is Labour-run, headed up by council leader Coun Allen Brett, with The Conservative Party led by Coun Ashley Dearnley. Both are defending their council seats.
Here are all the candidates who are standing to become a councillor this year and the party they represent:
●● Balderstone and Kirkholt: Laura Grabowska - Freedom Alliance. No Lockdowns.
No Curfews; Jacqueline Holt - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Philip Massey - Labour and Cooperative Party; James O’meara - Green Party
● Bamford: Stephen Anstee - The Conservative Party; Elizabeth Atewologun - Labour Party; Siobhain Cunnane - Liberal Democrats; Edward Whittaker - The Green Party
●● Castleton: David Jones - The Conservative Party; Jonathan Kershaw - The Green Party; Sarah Kisa-smith - Liberal Democrats; Billy Sheerin - Labour and Cooperative Party
●● Central Rochdale: Iftikhar Ahmed - Labour Party; David Jones - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Adam Mir - The Green Party; Barrie Nicholson - Liberal Democrats
●● East Middleton: Ian Aspinall - Liberal Democrats; Robert Mudd - Social Democratic Party; Stephen Sanderson - The Conservative Party; Terrance Smith - Labour Party
●● Healey: Mark Alcock - Liberal Democrats; Robert Mclean - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Shaun O’neill - Labour and Cooperative Party; AJ Rennie - The Green Party
●● Hopwood Hall: Paul Ellison - The Conservative Party; Tony Hughes - Liberal Democrats; Ian Kilgannon - Independent; Linda Robinson - Labour Party
●● Kingsway: Shakil Ahmed - Labour Party; Mark Hollinrake - The Green Party; Andrew Nelson - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Stephen Thornley - Liberal Democrats
●● Littleborough Lakeside: Kate Clegg - Liberal Democrats; John Hartley - Labour Party; Gareth Hobson - The Conservative and Unionist Party
●● Milkstone and Deeplish: Feruz Ali - The Green Party; Hassan Ansari - Liberal Democrats; Allen Brett - Labour and Cooperative Party; Rizwan Shafiq - The Conservative and Unionist Party
●● Milnrow and Newhey: Neil Butterworth - Labour and Cooperative Party; Irene Davidson - Liberal Democrats Daniel Nuttal - The Conservative and Unionist Party
●● Norden: Sarah Croke - The Green Party; James Gartside - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Shahid Mohammed - Labour Party; Stephanie Robertson - Liberal Democrats
●● North Heywood: Bernard Akin - UKIP; Donna Chadwick - Liberal Democrats; Nigel Morrell - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Liam O’rourke - Labour and Cooperative Party; Martin Orson - Independent
●● North Middleton: Adrian Coan - The Conservative Party; Kat Horrex - The Green Party; Ben Keane-lyons - Liberal Democrats; Donna Williams - Labour Party
●● Smallbridge and Firgrove: Leonard Branton - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Jules
Howliston - The Green Party; Dean Larder - The Liberal Democrats; Amna Mir - Labour Party
●● South Middleton: Martin Collinge - The Green Party; Emma Griffin - The Liberal Democrats; Peter Joinson - Labour Party; Karen Winkler - The Conservative Party
●● Spotland and Falinge: Rabina Asghar - Liberal Democrats; Mick Coats - The Green Party; Iram Faisal - Labour Party; Steven Scholes - The Conservative and Unionist Party
●● Wardle and West Littleborough: Ashley
Dearnley - The Conservative and Unionist Party; Richard Eden-maughan - Liberal Democrats; Julian Farnell - Labour Party; Hannah Macguire - The Green Party
●● West Heywood: Wendy Cocks - Labour and Cooperative Party; Colin Lambert - Independent; Guy Otten - The Green Party; Jordan Tarrant-short - The Conservative and Unionist Party
●● West Middleton: Nikki Edwards - Liberal Democrats; Aaron Slack - The Conservative Party; Susan Smith - Labour Party
Their latest run of Saturday Night Takeaway proved, once again, that Ant and Dec are the undisputed kings of weekend telly. Sadly for its millions of fans, that ended a fortnight ago, and the popular show has been replaced in the schedules by Vernon Kay’s Game of Talents. But if that has failed to capture your imagination, fear not because one of Ant and Dec’s old pals is back on the telly tonight. Stephen Mulhern returns with a new series of his silly game show In for a Penny, Saturday,
with the likeable host heading onto the streets of Sheffield to set members of the public more silly and unusual challenges. Mulhern’s showbiz career kicked off when his father began teaching him magic tricks before bedtime. His enthusiasm led to him becoming the youngest member of The Magic Circle, and he went on to win The Big Big Talent Show, which bagged him a spot at the Royal Variety Performance. His presenting career kicked off when he fronted Saturday Showdown on CITV alongside Holly Willoughby, as well as Finger Tips with Fearne Cotton, and magic show Tricky TV. Then, in 2010, he moved away from children’s television, hosting Dancing On Ice spin-off show Defrosted, making frequent appearances on This Morning, and bagging a gig hosting Catchphrase This led to his spot on BGT spin-off Britain's Got More Talent, where he built up a friendship with Ant and Dec. Stephen, who turned 44 over Easter, now presents The Big Quiz, as well as stunts and features (including Ant vs Dec) on Saturday Night Takeaway, and his own celebrity game show Rolling In It (which is returning for a new series at some point in 2021). However, arguably his biggest success has been In for a Penny, the half-hour long game show, which begin life as a segment on Takeaway. For those who haven’t seen it before, the programme consists of a number of different games, giving members of the public the chance to win cash prizes. They include Pump It Up, in which Stephen challenges drivers to dispense exactly the correct amount fuel into their vehicles, and Mum’s The Word, when people are asked to call their mum and describe a word without saying it.