News / Local elections 2015
Local Elections: What you need to know
With the General Election rumbling on and national campaigns in full swing, you could be forgiven for letting the small matter of the local council elections – taking place on the same day – slip your mind.
The lights may be fixed firmly on the MPs and prospective MPs fighting it out across their respective constituencies, but within those very boundaries local councillors are doing battle as well.
Only a third of all seats are up for election this year. Labour, currently the largest party within Bristol City Council, will be aiming to build on their success at the last elections in an attempt to secure an overall majority at City Hall.
They currently hold 31 of 70 seats in the house, with the Lib Dems and the Conservatives tied in second, holding 16 seats each. The Greens have six seats and Ukip have one.
Thursday May 7 will be the last time that only one third of the seats are up for grabs. As of next year, all seats will be up for election every four years as a new system – agreed by councillors – comes into play.
Unfortunately, moving to this system also means that those councillors elected this week will only hold their seats for one year – until the first all-out elections next May.
Next year’s election will be held in conjunction with the election of the city’s mayor, with whom the real power in Bristol resides.
Click here to see a full list of who is standing in Bristol’s local elections on Thursday and follow our live coverage of the count which begins on Friday afternoon and is expected to conclude by the evening.
Wards to keep an eye on, come fight night:
- Easton: The march of the Green Party in Ashley, Bishopston, Southville and Redland could spill out into Easton which is a major target area for the party.
- Knowle: With the Lib Dems expected to take another knocking on the back of their coalition record, Knowle might be the most likely ward where the party could lose out.
- Windmill Hill: Another seat where the Lib Dems may be under threat from both Labour and the Greens.
- Frome Vale: Having held the seat by a whisker last time around, the Tories may relinquish control to Labour who finished a close second in 2011 here.
- Stockwood: The Tories will come under attack from Labour and Ukip, who are fielding the party’s vice chair in Bristol, porn star John ‘Johnny Rockhard’ Langley.
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