All the candidates standing in Peterborough's local elections and what it means if they win

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 re-election 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 re-election, 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 (Gunthorpe and Hampton 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.

The full list

Bretton

Chris Burbage – Conservative Party (current councillor)

John O’Connor

Richard Strangward – Labour Party

Barry Warne – Green Party

Rohan Wilson – Liberal Democrats

Central

Steve Cawley – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Mohammed Jamil – Labour & Co-operative Party (current councillor)

Raymond Knight – Green Party

Khan Umar – Conservative Party

Paul Whittaker – Liberal Democrats

Dogsthorpe

Kelsey Brace – Green Party

Katy Cole – Labour & Co-operative Party

Muhammad Ikram – Conservative Party

Robert Petch – Independent

Sandra Ringler – Liberal Democrats

East

Shabina Qayyum – Labour & Co-operative Party (current councillor)

Luke Chapman – Green Party

Jo Johnson – Independent

Ekta Patel – Conservative Party

Eye, Thorney & Newborough

Michael Alexander – Green Party

Steve Allen – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Annie Geraghty – Liberal Democrats

John Shearman – Labour Party

Fletton & Stanground

Davide Broccoli – Conservative Party

Angus Ellis – Labour Party

Danette O’Hara – Green Party

Jade Seager – Liberal Democrats (current councillor)

Fletton & Woodston

Imtiaz Ali – Green Party (current councillor)

Nick Thulbourn – Labour & Co-operative Party

Neil Walton – Liberal Democrats

Andrew Willey – Conservative Party

Glinton & Castor

Claire Bysshe – Liberal Democrats

Sue Farr – Labour Party

Greg Guthrie – Green Party

Peter Hiller – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Gunthorpe

Sandra Bond – Liberal Democrats (current councillor)

Madison Challis – Labour Party

John Peach – Conservative Party

Tom Rogers – Christian Peoples Alliance

Hampton Vale

Rhys Evans – Conservative Party

Abdul Mannan – Labour Party

Chris Wiggin – Liberal Democrats (current councillor)

Hargate & Hempsted

John Howard – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Timothy Kujiyat – Labour Party

Rachel Speed – Liberal Democrats

Michael Whitaker – Green Party

North

Akim Akim – Conservative Party

Ansar Ali – Independent (current councillor)

Tracey Foreman – Green Party

Asim Mahmood – Labour & Co-operative Party

Orton Longueville

Aqib Mohammed Farooq – Conservative Party

Heather Skibsted – Green Party (current councillor)

Wendy Smith – Labour & Co-operative Party

Orton Waterville

Oluwaseun Akinyele – Labour Party

Matthew Bliszczak – Conservative Party

Vince Carroll – Liberal Democrats

Nicola Day – Green Party (current councillor)

Park

Khan Arfan – Conservative Party

Muhammad Asif – Conservative Party

Ian Hardman – Liberal Democrats

Junayd Hussain – Labour & Co-operative Party

Sue Morris – Reform UK

Fiona Radic – Green Party

Steve Wilson – Green Party

Sabra Yasin – Labour Party

Paston & Walton

Simon Barkham – Liberal Democrats (current councillor)

Simon Mayhew – Green Party

David Powell – Labour Party

Alex Rafiq – Conservative Party

Ravensthorpe

Raja Ahmed – Conservative Party

Richard Cham – Liberal Democrats

Jason McNally – Labour & Co-operative Party

Edward Murphy – Green Party

Stanground South

Simon Garner – Liberal Democrats

Harry Lewis – Labour Party

Stuart Middleton – Green Party

Brian Rush – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Werrington

Judy Fox – Peterborough First - Werrington Independent (current councillor)

Rosalind Jones – Labour Party

Simon Kail – Liberal Democrats

Hayley Shelton – Conservative Party

Georgia Wade – Green Party

West

Lorraine Andison – Labour Party

Wayne Fitzgerald – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Colette Francis – Green Party

Polly Geraghty – Liberal Democrats

Register to vote by Monday 17 April.