With two weeks to go until elections for parliamentary, district council and parish council seats in South Holland, candidates have been busy canvassing for support.
The five Westminster candidates are John Hayes (Conservative), Matthew Mahabadi (Labour), David Parsons (UKIP), George Smid (Liberal Democrats), and Dan Wilshire (Green Party).
Last Friday the candidates took part in an election hustings in Hall Place, Spalding, organised and broadcast by BBC Radio Lincolnshire.
Meanwhile, the elections for South Holland District Council seats have attracted 73 candidates for the 37 seats across 18 wards.
Currently, there are 25 Conservatives and 12 Independent members.
This time around UKIP has representation among the candidates for the first time, although it failed in a bid to attract foreign nationals to stand.
For the second district election running, Labour is fielding just one candidate – Voyteck Kowalewski in Moulton, Weston and Cowbit ward.
Mr Mahabadi, who is vice-chairman of the local Labour Party, stated in February that it wanted to contest all of the wards, but now admits that events have conspired against members.
He said: “I am sad we could not give voters more choice this election in terms of our candidates. I admit we were perhaps a bit optimistic but at one stage we really had a chance to get more people standing.
“Unfortunately, personal health worries and family illnesses prevented our best candidates from standing in the end.
“People may not realise this but we are entirely a locally funded CLP (Constituency Labour Party) who only have the support of our members 99 per cent of the time.
“Other parties are far better resourced than we, which means we are less effective competing. But we are extremely proud and passionate about our values, locally.”
Meanwhile, two of the most hotly-contested wards will be Sutton Bridge, and Moulton, Cowbit and Weston.
The two Sutton Bridge seats have long been dominated by Independent members Chris Brewis and Michael Booth. The Conservatives are pitching two candidates – town parish councillors Shirley Giles and Vicky Hills – and UKIP has Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce president Phil Scarlett standing.
The Conservatives’ grip on the three seats of Moulton, Weston and Cowbit ward – currently held by Anthony Casson, Rodney Grocock and Andrew Woolf – will be challenged on May 7 by candidates from the Independent group, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and Labour.
On the parish councils front, many of the wards are uncontested with some having fewer candidates than seats.
SOUTH HOLLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL CANDIDATES
CROWLAND AND DEEPING ST NICHOLAS (3 seats): Bryan Alcock* (Ind); Jim Astill (Con); Paul William Barrett (Ind); Peter Frederick Bird (UKIP); Angie Harrison* (Con); Jennie Head (Con); Brian Keith Sumner (Green)
DONINGTON, QUADRING AND GOSBERTON (3): Robert Edwin Clark* (Con); Colin Neville Johnson (Con); Jane Lesley King* (Ind); Roger Neal (Con)
FLEET (1): Paul Chapman (Ind); Peter Ephraim Coupland* (Con); Anne Elizabeth Ramkaran (Lib Dem)
GEDNEY (1): Andrew Charles John Parks (UKIP); Joanne Louise Reynolds (Con); Sarah Wilkinson* (Ind)
HOLBEACH HURN (1): Richard Crowley (Ind); Nick Worth* (Con)
HOLBEACH TOWN (3): Francis Biggadike* (Con); Tracey Ann Carter (Con); Paul Cayton Foyster (UKIP); Martin Howard* (Ind); Rita Mary Rudkin* (Con)
LONG SUTTON (3): Laura Jean Eldridge (Con); Jeanne Narena Sibley (Ind); Andy Tennant* (Ind); Jack Tyrrell (Con); David John Wilkinson* (Ind)
MOULTON, WESTON AND COWBIT (3): Emily Martha Mary Bates (UKIP); Anthony Casson* (Con); Rodney Grocock* (Con); Voyteck Kowalewski (Labour); Mary Helen Lane (Lib Dem); Jim Scarsbrook (Ind); Andrew Robert Woolf* (Con)
PINCHBECK AND SURFLEET (3): James Edward Avery* (Con); Douglas William Dickens; Geoff Garner (UKIP); Sally Slade* (Con); Elizabeth Jane Sneath* (Con); David John Turp (Ind)
SPALDING CASTLE (1): Martin Christopher Blake (Green); Mark Edward Le Sage (Ind); Gary John Taylor* (Con)
SPALDING MONKS HOUSE (2): George Richard Aley* (Con); Dave Maltby (UKIP); Angela Mary Newton* (Ind)
SPALDING ST JOHN’S (2): Graham Keith Dark* (Ind); Rob Gibson (UKIP); Jack Daniel McLean (Con); Roger Perkins* (Ind)
SPALDING ST MARY’S (2): Harry Drury (Con); Richard Geoffrey Fairman (UKIP); Gary Andrew Porter* (Con); Robert Carl West (Ind)
SPALDING ST PAUL’S (2): David Roy Ashby* (Con); Glynis Pearl Scalese (Con); Peter Andrew Williams (UKIP)
SPALDING WYGATE (2): Anthony Christopher Cronin (Ind); Roger Gambba-Jones* (Con); Christine Jane Lawton* (Con); Geraldine Scholes (Ind)
SUTTON BRIDGE (2): Michael David Booth* (Ind); Chris Brewis* (Ind); Shirley Ann Giles (Con); Vicky Hills (Con); Phil Scarlett (UKIP)
THE SAINTS (1): Val Gemmell (Ind); Michael David Seymour* (Con)
WHAPLODE AND HOLBEACH ST JOHNS (2): Malcolm Godfrey Chandler* (Con); Michael John Pullen (Con); Karl Rex Richardson (UKIP)
* denotes current member
PARISH COUNCILS CANDIDATES
COWBIT (5 seats, uncontested): Andrew Back; Keith Kendall; Harold Sharman; Peter Simpson; Trevor Tyrrell
CROWLAND: East ward (8): Bryan Alcock; David Mark Ancill; Thomas Michael Atkinson; Peter Frederick Bird; Linda Denise Boor; Victor George Harding; David Michael Kempton; Geoff Quince; David Ernest Ringham. West ward (7): Margaret Beardshaw; Reg Boot; Peter Barry Cooper; Tina Croxford; Cathleen Elphee; Angie Harrison; Peter Herbert Ratcliffe Haselgrove; Jennie Head; John Parnell
DEEPING ST NICHOLAS (11, uncontested): Paul William Barrett; Walter David Branton; George Frank Edward Fitzgerald; Barry Hopkins; Richard Mark Ivatt; Ian McDonald; Louisa Jane McGuinness; William Ronald Hunter Rodwell; Phillip Nicholas Watts
DONINGTON (11, uncontested): Arthur Ernest Baldwin; Colin Leslie Harrison; Peter James Lorimer; Phil Lovell; Gill Lunn; Roger Marshall; Bryan Walter Robinson; Mark Sandall Litherland Rollinson; Jane Catherine Stanley; John Richard Wray
FLEET (8, uncontested): Paul Chapman; Peter Ephraim Coupland; Annette Elizabeth Dean; Ross Andrew Dean; Val Gemmell; Arthur Herbert Male; Joan Margaret Beryl Woolard
GEDNEY: North ward (4, uncontested): Ian Anthony Field; Jayne Marie Hallam; Graham John Wells. South ward (5, uncontested): Morag Camochan Hutchinson; Andrew Charles John Parks; Katrina Mary Parks; William Scrimshaw Webb; Sarah Wilkinson
GEDNEY HILL (5): Collette Frances Coleman; Ian Neville Coles; Brenda Dorothy Harper; Kenneth Samuel James; Lisa Frances Lakey; David Mann; Paul Alexander Redgate
GOSBERTON: Risegate ward (4, uncontested): Mark Taylor, Sue Thorley. Village ward (7, uncontested): John Charles Clark, Mick Pell, Tim Smith
HOLBEACH: Hurn ward (5, uncontested): Rachel Jane Flood; Arthur Herbert Male; Maureen Mary Male. St Johns ward (3, uncontested): Adrian Paul Brighton. Town ward (10): Paul Cayton Foyster; Val Gemmell; Paul John Gunn; Martin Howard; Isobel Monica Hutchinson; Kathy Jane Rooke; Carol Ann Rudkin; Graham Thomas Desmond Rudkin; Mark Peter Smith; John Spencer; Joan Margaret Beryl Woolard
LONG SUTTON (11, uncontested): Bobbie Ashton, Ruth Barber, David John Cawthorn, Edward John Clarey, Laura Jean Eldridge, Charles William Moore, David Winston Spencer-Churchill, Jack Tyrrell
LUTTON (7, uncontested): Edward Joseph Atkinson; Joan Patricia Atkinson
MOULTON: Chapel ward (4, uncontested): Paul William Lockie; Eddy Poll; Lawrence Edward Wakefield. Seas End ward (4, uncontested): Geoffrey Charles Cooper; Steve Walker. Village ward (5, uncontested): Byron Frederick John Hahn; Jim Scarsbrook; Abigail Claire Walters
PINCHBECK: East ward (8, uncontested): John Frederick Allen; James Edward Avery; Emma Louise Beavis; Andrew Bowser; Douglas William Dickens; Anthony Colin Jones; Peter Anthony Ruysen; Leon Bruce Tetherton. West ward (7, uncontested): Lynne Andrew, Andrew Chambelain, Maurice Kingston Chappell, Richard Peter Dobbs, David John Houghton, Sally Anne Sneath
QUADRING (9, uncontested): Diane Beehoo; Robert Edwin Clark; Trevor Diggins; Reginald Alan Marshall; Christopher Mark Pavely; Sue Plummer; Wendy Ann Simpson
SURFLEET (9, uncontested): Judy Marion Chapman; Mike Chapman; Alan Dobney; Gillian Gerrans; Mary Eileen Hurst; Son Templeman; Glynn Charles Waltham
SUTTON BRIDGE (11, uncontested): Michael David Booth; Simon Michael Booth; Christopher James Thomas Harrison Brewis; Diane Margaret Cook; Kim Davies; David Dewsberry; David Nigel Anthony Fenton; Shirley Ann Giles; John Antony Grimwood; Vicky Hills; Phil Scarlett
SUTTON ST EDMUND (7, uncontested): Michael Joseph Coleman; Clare Hunns; Marjorie Morris; Stephen Henry Morris
SUTTON ST JAMES (7, uncontested): Del Brown; Victor George Campling; Jennifer Joyce Garbutt; Chris Griggs; Bill Harrison; Paul Michael Kidd; Henry Neale
TYDD ST MARY (9, uncontested): Jonathan Martyn Godfrey; Heather Jackson-Parker; John Peter Ley; Simon Sparks
WESTON: Hills ward (5, uncontested): Anthony Casson, Dennis Farnsworth, Dennis Jex, Richard Kevin Pratt. Village ward (5, uncontested): Julian Anthony Bellamy, Ian Fred Pennington, Mike Smith
WHAPLODE: Drove ward (4, uncontested): George Clayton, Stephen Maurice Mackman, Morris Alfred Stancer. Saracens Head ward (2, uncontested): Derek Godfrey Rose, Joe Roulstone. Village ward (4): Richard Philip Barlow; George Robert Merchant; Michael John Pullen; Rita Mary Rudkin; Paul Stafford.
