NEXT month’s election for Dudley Council has attracted 104 candidates vying for one of the 24 seats being contested.

With the political balance in the council chamber on a knife edge, Labour and Conservatives have fielded full slates for all of the borough’s wards, with UKIP standing 15 candidates in its bid to win back the councillors it lost last year.

The Greens are fighting in 13 wards as are the Liberal Democrats.

The election has seen the emergence of a hyperlocal group in the shape of the Black Country Party which is also contesting seats in Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. 

One of the Conservative’s target wards is Norton whose sitting Independent,  Cllr Heather Rogers, switched her support to the Labour party last year letting them take political control of the authority. 

The leader of the council and the Labour group, Cllr Qadar Zada, will be defending his Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’s seat. 

The borough will go to the polls on Thursday, May 2.

The full list of candidates: 
 
Amblecote  
Ellen Cobb (Labour)
Ian Flynn (Liberal Democrats)
Pete Lee (Conservatives)
Terry Thorn  (UKIP)

Belle Vale
Bill McComish (Green Party)
Simon Phipps (Conservatives)
Donella Russell (Labour)
William Stephenson (Black Country Party)

Brierley Hill
Ridha Ahmed (Labour)
Adam Davies  (Conservatives)
Gordon Elcock (Green Party)
Delesh Patel (UKIP)

Brockmoor & Pensnett
Rich Colley (UKIP)
Sue Greenway (Conservatives)
Carolanne Lello (Labour)
Garry Sawers (Black Country Party)

Castle & Priory
Maurice Archer (Green Party)
Martin Day (Libertarian Party)
David Donnelly (UKIP)
Ken Finch (Labour)
Richard Tasker (Conservatives)

Coseley East
Josef Baker (Conservatives)
Peter Drake (Labour)
Phil Robinson (UKIP)

Cradley & Wollescote
Richard Body (Labour)
Mitch Bolton (Black Country Party)
James Clinton (Conservatives)
Euan Dunn (UKIP)
Ryan Priest (Liberal Democrat)

Gornal
Karl Denning (Labour)
Matt Jones (UKIP)
Anne Millward (Conservatives)

Halesowen North
Gabby Coverson (UKIP)
Peter Dobb (Conservatives)
Stuart Henley (Black Country Party)
Parmjit Sahota (Labour)

Halesowen South
Helen Betts-Patel (Labour)
Derek Campbell (Liberal Democrats)
Nicholas Gregory (Black Country Party)
Alan Taylor (Conservatives)
Tim Weller (Independent)

Hayley Green & Cradley South
Ian Bevan (Conservatives)
Dean Ford (Black Country Party)
John Payne (Green Party)
Gwyneth Stewart (Labour)

Kingswinford North & Wall Heath
Pam Archer (Green Party)
Jonathan Bramall (Liberal Democrats)
Jack Downes (Labour)
Nicola Richards (Conservatives)

Kingswinford South
Taryn Bradley (Green Party)
Elizabeth Geeves (Liberal Democrats)
Marian Howard (Labour)
Peter Miller (Conservatives)

Lye & Stourbridge North
Gary Farmer (Black Country Party)
Mohammed Hanif (Labour)
Alan Lewers (Liberal Democrats)
Kamran Razzaq (Conservatives)
Lawrence Rowlett (Green Party)

Netherton, Woodside & St Andrew’s
Caley Ashman (UKIP)
Phil Atkins (Conservatives)
Alexander Botten (Liberal Democrats)
Mark Robinson (Black Country Party)
Alex Wright (Green Party)
Qadar Zada (Labour)

Norton
Mark Binnersley (Green Party)
David Powell (UKIP)
Heather Rogers (Independent) 
Karen Shakespeare (Conservatives)
Elaine Sheppard (Liberal Democrat Focus Team)
Andrew Tromans (Labour)

Pedmore & Stourbridge East
Simon Hanson (Liberal Democrat)
Ian Kettle (Conservatives)
Catherine Maguire (Green Party)
Brian Roe (Labour)
Glen Wilson (UKIP)

Quarry Bank & Dudley Wood
Christopher Blake (Conservatives)
Jackie Cowell (Labour)
Dean Horton (UKIP)
David Sheppard (Liberal Democrat)
Angela Walker (Black Country Party)

Sedgley
Stephen Beardsmore (Labour)
Tina Westwood (Conservatives)

St James’s
Cathy Bayton (Labour)
Claire Bramall (Liberal Democrat)
Malcolm Davis (Conservatives)
Mick Forsyth (UKIP)
Dinesh Patel (Black Country Party)
Francis Sheppard (Green Party)

St Thomas`s
Daniel Archer (Green Party)
Shaneila Mughal (Labour)
Mark Webb (Conservatives)
Phil Wimlett (UKIP)

Upper Gornal & Woodsetton
Adam Aston (Labour)
Damian Corfield (Black Country Party)
Jon Turner (Conservatives)

Wollaston & Stourbridge Town
Christopher Bramall (Liberal Democrats)
Charles Brecknell (UKIP)
Steve Clark (Conservatives)
Cat Eccles (Labour)
David Hunt (Black Country Party)
Kevin Weston (Independent) 

Wordsley
James Callaghan (Labour)
Alexander Home (Liberal Democrats)
Matt Rogers  (Conservatives)
Jennifer Slater-Reid (Green Party)