The full list of candidates competing in elections for the seats to represent Craven on the new North Yorkshire Council has been revealed.
A total of 33 candidates are competing for nine seats to represent the district on the new unitary authority which will lead North Yorkshire into a new era of local government.
The elections on 5th May are shaping up to be an intense contest as far fewer councillors will be voted in when compared to the 30 members currently serving the district on Craven District Council and North Yorkshire County Council.
Both the existing councils – and the other six district and borough councils across North Yorkshire – will be scrapped when the new unitary authority is created in April 2023.
And those elected will have a say in how key services from planning to social care, and education to highways, are run over the next crucial years of change.
Here are your candidates for the Craven district:
Aire Valley
Andy Brown, Green Party
Stuart William Handley, Conservatives
Bentham and Ingleton
David Lloyd Ireton, Conservatives
Lewis Gareth Morgan, Labour Party
John Michael Smithson, Liberal Democrats
Anne Weinhold, Green Party
Glusburn, Cross Hills and Sutton-in-Craven
Philip Melvin Barrett, Independent
Fran Graham, Green Party
Andy Micklethwaite, Conservatives
Christopher Thorp, Labour Party
Mid Craven
Simon Martin Myers, Conservatives
Simon James Watkins, Green Party
Settle and Penyghent
Luke Robert Allan, Liberal Democrats
Aidan David Higgins, Labour Party
David Michael Staveley, Conservatives
Skipton East and South
Robert Geoffrey Heseltine, Independent
Rick Judge, Independent
Brian Anthony McDaid, Labour Party
Heather Laura Midwinter, Conservatives
Kate Ward, Liberal Democrats
Skipton North and Embsay-with-Eastby
John William Dawson, Conservatives
David Christopher Noland, Green Party
Brian Stuart Shuttleworth, Independent
Phil Street, Yorkshire Party
Michelle Denise Winthrop, Liberal Democrats
Skipton West and West Craven
Peter Geoffrey Madeley, Labour Party
Patrick Thomas Mulligan, Conservatives
Claire Nash, Green Party
Andy Solloway, Independent
Wharfedale
Richard William Foster, Conservatives
Chris Rose, Labour Party
Tony Serjeant, Green Party
Siân Elizabeth Wheal, Liberal Democrats
In total, 90 councillors will be voted in to represent 89 new divisions across North Yorkshire.
They will serve one year on North Yorkshire County Council before transitioning to the new unitary authority for a four-year term.
The deadline to register to vote is 14th April – and those who are already on the electoral register should have received a polling card or letter during the last two weeks in March. Polling stations will open from 7am to 10pm on 5th May. Those who are unable to vote in person can apply to vote by post or proxy.