Everyone standing in Fenland District Council's all-out election

Fenland District Council (FDC) is holding an all–out election today (Thursday, 4 March) and it’ll look a little different from those in the past.

That’s because the ward boundaries have been redrawn since the last vote, held in 2019, meaning that in one ward four current councillors are competing for the same three seats.

In three wards, no current councillors are running at all and the same is true of many other individual seats (while there are 18 wards, FDC will now be made up of 43 councillors).

But this is partly because five Conservative councillors, five Independents and one Liberal Democrat are not running again.

The redraw came about after a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England and resulted in a slimmed-down number of wards: previously there had been 39 councillors representing 24 wards.

Ahead of the 2019 election, FDC topped the Electoral Reform Society’s list of councils with the most councillors who will be elected without a vote taking place (12) and its list of councils with the most guaranteed councillors for one party (15).

That party was the Conservative Party, which currently holds 27 of the FDC's 39 seats and has controlled the council without a break since the turn of the century.

This year, though, the Conservatives are guaranteed seats in a comparatively small number of wards (three: March West and Benwick, Wisbech Riverside and Wisbech South), while every other seat is contested.

Labour Party standing 20 hopefuls

The Labour Party, which currently has no FDC councillors, is fielding 20 candidates, meaning it would be unable to form a majority without forming a coalition even if all its candidates were elected.

While there is at least one Labour candidate in most wards, four – Whittlesey South, Wisbech North, Wisbech South and Wisbech Walsoken and Waterlees – don't have one at all.

The Liberal Democrats, which currently holds two seats, are fielding five candidates, three of which are all in Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary.

The Greens, which currently have one seat, are standing six.

FDC has a strong cohort of Independent councillors, which currently stands at nine. This year, 18 are running.

Independent councillor running as a Conservative

The Conservative Party, meanwhile, is fielding 43 candidates, making it the only individual party that could theoretically win every seat.

Among them is Cllr Charlie Marks, who won his Manea seat as an Independent in 2019.

He’s “not looking to make a big name” as a Conservative, he said of the move, but rather needs “a party behind me” so he can fight school budget cuts if re-elected.

The Conservative councillors not making a bid to return this year are Sam Clark, Andrew Lynn , David Mason, David Topgood and Rob Skoulding.

The Independents are Andy Maul, Will Sutton, Michelle Tanfield and Fred Yeulett.

Liberal Democrat Sarah Bligh is also not running again.

Voting will take place between 7am to 10pm.

For a full list of those who are standing, see below. The numbers next to each ward indicate how many seats are available.

The full list

Chatteris North and Manea (3)

• James Carney – Conservative Party
• Alan Gowler – Conservative Party
• Charlie Marks – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Janet O’Keefe – Labour Party
• Emma Pollard – Green Party
• Liz Wright – Green Party

Chatteris South (3)

• Ian Benney – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Steven Chappell – Green Party
• Daniel Divine – Independent (current councillor)
• Anne Hay – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Amanda Hirson – Labour Party
• Matt Jeal – Breakthrough Party
• Peter Murphy – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Aurelia Stempien-Wyrwal – Independent

Doddington and Wimblington (2)

• Katie Clark – Labour Party
• David Connor – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Maureen Davis – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Liam O’Rourke – Liberal Democrats
• Philip Snowdon – Labour Party

Elm and Christchurch (2)

• Petya Kneksis – Conservative Party
• Boryana Pehlivanova – Conservative Party
• Marian Phillips – Labour Party
• Dal Roy – Independent
• Matthew Summers – Independent

Leverington and Wisbech Rural (3)

• Benedict Allen – Labour Party
• Brenda Barber – Conservative Party
• Samantha Clark – Conservative Party
• Charles Cutler
• Hermien Dyer – Alliance for Democracy and Freedom ADF
• Mark Dyer – Alliance for Democracy and Freedom ADF
• Chris Seaton – Conservative Party (current councillor)

March East (3)

• Levent Ali – Conservative Party
• Katharine Bultitude – Labour Party
• John Clark – Independent (current councillor)
• Martin Field – Labour Party
• Stuart Harris – Conservative Party
• Jennifer Lawler – Independent
• Angela Mayes – Labour Party
• Mark Purser – Conservative Party (current councillor)

March North (3)

• Martyn Balmont – Labour Party
• George Broughton – Labour Party
• Mike Cornwell – Independent (current councillor)
• Steve Count – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Stephen Court – Liberal Democrats
• Kim French – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Paul Hicks – Independent
• David Maryan – Reform UK
• Hannah Orbell – Labour Party
• Ashley Smith – Conservative Party

March South (2)

• Gary Christy – Conservative Party
• Jan French – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Clare Hale – Labour Party
• Simon Wilkes – Green Party (current councillor)
• Robert Williams – Labour Party

March West and Benwick (2)

• Stewart Hearn – Labour Party
• Tim Taylor – Conservative Party
• Andrew Woollard – Conservative Party

Parson Drove and Wisbech St Mary (3)

• Gavin Booth – Liberal Democrats (current councillor)
• Diane Cutler – Liberal Democrats
• Anthony Georgiou – Conservative Party
• Michael Humphrey – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Rasa McGill – Liberal Democrats
• Sebastian O’Keefe – Labour Party
• Clayton Payne – Conservative Party

Whittlesey East and Villages (3)

• Chris Boden – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Stephen Clay – Labour Party
• David Habbin – Green Party
• Alex Miscandlon – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Haq Nawaz – Conservative Party
• Bob Wicks – Independent (current councillor)

Whittlesey Lattersey (1)

• Jason Mockett – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Ian Moyes – Labour Party

Whittlesey North West (2)

• Peter Gilman – Labour Party
• Dee Laws – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• John Male – Green Party
• Elisabeth Sennitt Clough – Conservative Party

Whittlesey South (2)

• Peter Bibb – Independent
• Maria Boccia – Conservative Party
• Roy Gerstner – Independent
• Kay Mayor – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Wisbech North (1)

• Lucie Foice-Beard – Conservative Party
• Marina Jennings – Independent
• Alan Wheeldon – Independent

Wisbech Riverside (2)

• Kathryn Hearn – Labour Party
• Nick Meekins – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Dave Oliver – Conservative Party

Wisbech South (3)

• Peter Freeman – Independent
• Ruth Freeman – Independent
• Samantha Hoy – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Steve Tierney – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Susan Wallwork – Conservative Party (current councillor)

Wisbech Walsoken and Waterlees (3)

• Simon Crowson – Independent
• Sidney Imafidon – Conservative Party
• Garry Monger – Independent
• David Patrick – Independent
• Billy Rackley – Conservative Party (current councillor)
• Sylwia Salvidge – Conservative Party

Because some ward boundaries have changed, voters are asked to double-check their ward and polling station as it may be different.