Ballot is postponed after candidate dies

THE death of a Stockport local election candidate has seen the ballot in Edgeley and Cheadle Heath ward postponed.

Maureen BaldwinMoore, who lived in Bramhall, died suddenly last week within a couple of days of being declared as standing for the Conservative Party.

It means the ward’s vote on May 3 has been rescheduled for May 24 and new polling cards will be sent out.

A new Conservative candidate will not be officially announced until Wednesday but is expected to be Patricia Leck.

Councillor Syd Lloyd, leader of Stockport’s Conservative group, paid tribute to Ms BaldwinMoore, who was in her late 70s. He said: “She was a very bright bubbly lady who enjoyed life to the full and was looking forward to standing in the election.

“She was a nice, gentle woman and had been a Conservative all her life and an activist for years and committed to the cause.

“She did a lot of work behind the scenes and would have been a valuable addition to the council (had she stood and won).”

Ms Baldwin-Moore had studied psychology and education at the University of Manchester and worked at the education psychology service at Manchester Education.

She had specialised in dyslexia and had also been a swimming coach.

Ms Baldwin-Moore had stood for election in the Edgeley and Cheadle Heath ward - traditionally a Labour stronghold - in 2016.

The current member standing will be Labour’s Philip Harding and there is expected to also be candidates from the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green Party.

A council spokesman said: “The local government election scheduled for May 3 in the Edgeley and Cheadle Heath Ward has been postponed following the death of a candidate from the Conservative Party.

“This election has now been rescheduled to take place on May 24.

“Voters in the ward will be notified that the May 3 election has been postponed and new poll cards will be sent out for May 24.”