MORE than 50 candidates will contest the 11 Wyre Forest District Council seats up for grabs at next month’s local election.

Wyre Forest will go to the polls on Thursday, May 3 with the count taking place the following day to decide the new make-up of the 33-member authority.

This year will see the last ‘one-third’ ballot as in 2019 the authority will move to all-out elections which will take place every four years.

There is no election being held in the Lickhill ward in Stourport as it is a single member ward and Councillor David Little was elected to serve from 2015 to 2019.

Currently, the Conservatives hold a huge majority with 22 out of the 33 seats and will be defending eight of these in May.

Labour’s Jamie Shaw and independent Peter Dyke will defend their seats in Areley Kings & Riverside and Aggborough & Spennells respectively while former independent Gordon Yarranton has been disqualified as a councillor and will not stand in Wribbenhall & Areley.

In total, both the Tories and Labour are fielding 11 candidates, Liberal Democrats 10, Health Concern and Green nine each, four UKIP and one independent.

The deadline for registering to vote is midnight on Tuesday, April 17 and can be done by visiting www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or by getting a paper copy from the Hub at Kidderminster Town Hall.

Anyone wishing to vote by post or proxy need to complete an online application form www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/voting. Deadline for postal voting is 5om on Wednesday, April 18 and for proxy is 5pm on Wednesday, April 25.

Polling stations will be open 7am until 10pm on 3 May. Details of their locations can be found at www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/pollingstations

Information about the candidates and the election can be found in the Upcoming Elections section of the council’s website www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/elections