The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Countdown to elections
May’s local elections are fast approaching and the full list of candidates vying for a seat on Peterborough City Council (PCC) has been published.
Among those standing for re-election this year are council leader Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives), mayoress Shabina Qayyum (Labour) and Green Party group leader Nicola Day.
Like Cambridge City Council, PCC holds its elections by thirds, meaning that a third of councillors are elected each year for three years followed by a fourth year with no elections.
It’s recently considered moving to the all-out elections system, whereby all councillors are elected every four years, but decided against this as at a meeting in October.
This year, voting takes place between 7am and 10pm on Thursday 4 May in 20 wards.Four Labour councillors not standing again
In all but one of these, one seat is being contested – in Park ward there are two because of the resignations of former Labour group leader Shaz Nawaz and Labour councillor Ikra Yasin earlier this year.
In most other wards, one of the candidates will be a current councillor – but this is not the case in Park ward, Dogsthorpe and Ravensthorpe.
In Dogsthorpe, Cllr Katia Yurgutene (Labour) is not standing again.
“The world has changed significantly [since my election in 2019], politically and for me, personally,” a “personal message from Cllr Katia” on a Labour leaflet reads. “This means I took the decision not to seek reelection this year.”
Meanwhile, in Ravensthorpe Lucina Robinson (Labour) is not standing again. Cllrs Yurgutene and Robinson have been contacted for more information.Conservatives closest to overall majority
The political balance on PCC has long been precarious; over the last decade no party has held overall control in seven out of the 10 years.
It was most recently held by the Conservatives for a single year in 2018 and before that it was Conservative
in 2016.
The Tories have been the largest individual party during this entire period, though, meaning that the council’s leader and cabinet – responsible for much of its decision-making – are all Conservatives.
This year, six current Conservative councillors are up for re-election including cabinet members Steve Allen and John Howard, as well as four current Liberal Democrats, three Greens and two Independents.
Three current Labour councillors are up for reelection, meanwhile, while a further four seats they had previously held are also being contested.
To form a majority, a party must hold 31 seats – for the Conservatives to do this, they would have to retain all of their current seats and win three more.
Labour is further off; it would have to retain its current seats and win 17 more, which is not impossible but certainly a big ask.
It could, however, form a coalition with any other minority parties willing to do this if they’re able to make up the numbers.
There are currently 26 Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors combined,
two fewer than the Conservatives' 28.Labour and Conservatives competing for every seat
Both the Conservatives and Labour are standing candidates in every ward up for election (where ‘Labour & Co-operative Party' appears on the ballot, this will count towards the Labour total).
The Greens are standing candidates in all but two wards(GunthorpeandHampton Vale), while the Liberal Democrats are standing in all but three (East, Orton Waterville and one of the two Park ward spots).
There are also several Independent candidates as well as representatives of smaller parties not currently represented on the council such as Reform UK and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.
The Liberal Democrats currently hold eight seats on the council (meaning half their seats are up for election this year), while the Green Party holds four (meaning three quarters of their seats are up for election).
Another bit of trivia for election-watchers is that of the candidates who are current councillors, three are not running for the same party they represented when they were last elected.
These are Cllr Imtiaz Ali
(was Labour, now Greens), Cllr Heather Skibsted (was Labour, now Greens) and Cllr Ansar Ali (was Labour, now Independent).
The full list of wards up for elections and all the candidates standing can be found below.
Bretton
Chris Burbage – Con (current councillor) John O’Connor Richard Strangward – Lab Barry Warne – Green Rohan Wilson – LibDem
Central
Steve Cawley – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Mohammed Jamil – Labr & Co-op (current councillor) Raymond Knight – Green Khan Umar – Con
Paul Whittaker – LibDem
Dogsthorpe
Kelsey Brace – Green Katy Cole – Lab & Co-op Muhammad Ikram – Con Robert Petch – Ind Sandra Ringler – LibDem
East
Shabina Qayyum – Lab & Coop (current councillor) Luke Chapman – Green Jo Johnson – Ind
Ekta Patel – Con
Eye, Thorney & Newborough Michael Alexander – Green Steve Allen – Con (current councillor)
Annie Geraghty – LibDem John Shearman – Lab
Fletton & Stanground Davide Broccoli – Con Angus Ellis – Lab Danette O’Hara – Green Jade Seager – LibDem (current councillor)
Fletton & Woodston Imtiaz Ali – Green (current councillor)
Nick Thulbourn – Lab & Coop Party
Neil Walton – LibDem Andrew Willey – Con
Glinton & Castor Claire Bysshe – LibDem Sue Farr – Lab
Greg Guthrie – Green Peter Hiller – Con (current councillor)
Gunthorpe
Sandra Bond – LibDem(current councillor) Madison Challis – Lab John Peach – Con
Tom Rogers – Christian Peoples Alliance
Hampton Vale Rhys Evans – Con Abdul Mannan – Lab Chris Wiggin – LibDem (current councillor)
Hargate & Hempsted John Howard – Con(current councillor) Timothy Kujiyat – Lab Rachel Speed – LibDem Michael Whitaker – Green
North
Akim Akim – Con Ansar Ali – Ind(current councillor) Tracey Foreman – Green Asim Mahmood – Lab & Co-op
Orton Longueville
Aqib Mohammed Farooq – Con
Heather Skibsted – Green (current councillor) Wendy Smith – Lab & Co-op
Orton Waterville Oluwaseun Akinyele – Lab Matthew Bliszczak – Cons Vince Carroll – LibDem Nicola Day – Green (current councillor)
Park
Khan Arfan – Con Muhammad Asif – Con Ian Hardman – LibDem Junayd Hussain – Lab & Co-op
Sue Morris – Reform UK Fiona Radic – Green Steve Wilson – Green Sabra Yasin – Lab
Paston & Walton Simon Barkham – LibDem (current councillor) Simon Mayhew – Green David Powell – Labour Alex Rafiq – Conservative
Ravensthorpe
Raja Ahmed – Con Richard Cham – LibDem Jason McNally – Lab & Co-op Edward Murphy – Green
Stanground South Simon Garner – LibDem Harry Lewis – Lab Stuart Middleton – Green Brian Rush – Con (current councillor)
Werrington
Judy Fox – Peterborough First - Werrington Independent (current councillor) Rosalind Jones – Lab Simon Kail – LibDem Hayley Shelton – Con Georgia Wade – Green
West
Lorraine Andison – Lab Wayne Fitzgerald – Con (current councillor) Collette Francis – Green Polly Geraghty – LibDem Register to vote by Monday 17 April.