THE names of all the local election candidates standing in Leeds this year have been published.

Voters across the city will head to the polls on Thursday, May 4, to elect a councillor to represent their local area.

A third of Leeds City Council’s 99 seats – one in each of the 33 wards across the city – are being contested.

The candidate who receives the most votes in each ward will be elected to serve an initial four-year term on the council.

The outcome of the elections will be crucial in defining the council’s political makeup for the next 12 months. Labour is the current ruling party, as it holds 56 of the 99 seats. The rest are held by the opposition parties, including the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Morley Borough Independents, Green Party, Garforth and Swillington Independents and the SDP.

The names of all the candidates standing across the Wharfedale and Aireborough areas are:

ADEL AND WHARFEDALE

Steve Clapcote – Labour and Co-operative Party

Billy Flynn – Conservative Party

Fiona Sarah Heather Love – Green Party

Sharon Margaret Slinger – Liberal Democrats

GUISELEY AND RAWDON

Bob Buxton – Yorkshire Party

Oliver Roland Edwards – Labour and Co-operative Party

Robert Hugh Jacques – Liberal Democrats

Paul John Spencer Wadsworth – Conservative Party

Lucy Katherine Wheeler – Green Party

HAREWOOD 

Dan Cook – Liberal Democrats

Claire Anne Evans – Green Party

Oliver Gill – Labour Party

Ryan Stephenson – Conservative Party

HORSFORTH

Ian Cowling – Yorkshire Party

Raymond Wyn Jones – Labour Party

Ian William Shaw – Green Party

Jackie Shemilt – Conservative Party

James Michael Spencer – Liberal Democrats

OTLEY AND YEADON 

Mick Bradley – Green Party

Claire Jane Buxton – Yorkshire Party

Ryk Downes – Liberal Democrats

Stewart Peter Harper – Conservative Party

Ian Joseph McCargo – Labour Party

Elliot Edwards Nathan – Breakthrough Party

In order to be able to vote in person at polling stations, voters will need to be able to show an accepted form of photo ID. Anyone unable to produce such identification at the polling station will not be able to vote.

The list of accepted forms of ID can be seen at Voter photo ID (leeds.gov.uk). If anyone requires new Voter ID, the deadline to apply is 5pm on Tuesday, April 25. In Leeds applications can be completed free including having a new photo taken at community hubs and libraries across the city. There is no need to make an appointment, but anyone wishing to apply this way will need to ensure they have their National Insurance number with them.