By David Spereall, local democracy reporter
Additional reporting: John Baron
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. This includes West Leeds wards Armley, Bramley & Stanningley, Calverley & Farsley, Farnley & Wortley, Kirkstall and Pudsey.
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.
Armley ward
- Lou Cunningham – Green Party
- Tamas Kovacs – Conservative Party
- Edana Niamh McDonald – Yorkshire Party
- Jim Muller – Independent
- Andy Parnham – Labour Party
- Dan Walker – Liberal Democrats
Bramley & Stanningley
- Elizabeth Anne Bee – Liberal Democrats
- Adam Daniel Cook – Conservative Party
- Tom Hinchcliffe – Labour Party
- Richard David Riley – Social Democratic Party
- Keith Duncan Whitaker – Green Party
Calverley and FarsleyÂ
- Peter John Carlill – Labour and Co-operative Party
- Ellen Graham – Green Party
- Rob Lees – Yorkshire Party
- Stuart McLeod – Liberal Democrats
- Jas Singh – Conservative Party
Farnley and Wortley
- Natalia Justyna Armitage – Conservative Party
- Jack Michael Bellfield – Social Democratic Party
- Christine Mavis Golton – Liberal Democrats
- Bev Lockwood – Independent
- Adrian McCluskey – Labour Party
- Mark Terence Rollinson – Green Party
- Andrea Whitehead – Reform UK
Kirkstall
- Adam James Belcher – Liberal Democrats
- Reiss Lewis Capitano – Conservative Party
- Stuart William Long – no party listed on Leeds City Council website
- Andy Rontree – Labour Party
- Victoria Helen Smith – Green Party
Pudsey
- Riaz Ahmed – Labour Party
- Christine Amy Glover – Liberal Democrats
- Alaric Timothy Peter Hall – Green Party
- Tom Kelly – Reform UK
- Trish Smith – Conservative Party
WLD will be contacting all candidates for a profile and photograph ahead of the election.
Photo ID at polling stations
It will be a requirement at polling stations on election day to establish the identity of all voters using the accepted photo ID. It may be necessary for polling officials to ask voters to remove face coverings in order to verify their identity. Privacy booths will be available at all polling stations, with a choice of a male or female official to carry out the check.
The need to have Voter ID only applies to those who wish to vote in person at a polling station or through a proxy in person, it does not affect those who vote by post. Anyone wishing to vote by post can apply to do so via https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections/postal-voting. The deadline for applications for postal voting is 5pm on Tuesday 18 April, and residents are being asked to apply as soon as possible to help manage demand.
If anyone wishes to register to vote, including those who have moved home and need to register to vote at their new address, this could be done via Register to vote – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) before the deadline of midnight on Monday 17 April.
Another option available is to vote by proxy, which can be applied for via www.leeds.gov.uk/elections. The deadline for applications to vote by proxy is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
Information about the new Voter ID requirement and all voting options can be found on the Electoral Commission’s website at Voter ID | Electoral Commission.