Candidates have been announced for the South Gloucestershire district elections and Bradley Stoke town elections, both of which take place on Thursday 4th May 2023.
District elections
The ward boundaries for the district elections remain unchanged from 2019, with Bradley Stoke North and Bradley Stoke South both electing two members to South Gloucestershire Council.
The four successful Conservative candidates had comfortable winning margins of between 8 and 11 percentage points at the last election, but with the party languishing in national opinion polls the challengers will no doubt be hoping to close that gap and potentially gain some of the seats.
In Bradley Stoke North, SGC Cabinet member Franklin Owusu-Antwi (Conservative) is standing again, but the other current Tory councillor Sarah Pomfret is standing as an Independent this time having fallen out with the party. She is replaced on the blue ticket by current Bradley Stoke town councillor Terri Cullen. With the Liberal Democrats putting up two non-resident candidates, the main challenge is expected to come from Labour’s Nigel Goldsmith and Ges Rosenberg. The Green Party is also testing the water with local resident James Nelson, believed to be its first-ever candidate at district level in Bradley Stoke.
There will be at least one new district councillor in Bradley Stoke South as current member John Ashe (Conservative) is stepping down. The other Tory incumbent, Roger Avenin, is standing again and is joined on the blue ticket by current Bradley Stoke town councillor Ben Randles. The Labour Party, whose two candidates finished third and fourth here in 2019 put up John Bradbury and Kulwinder Sappal. The candidate list is completed by two Liberal Democrats (both non-resident).
For the full list of candidates, including profiles and photos (where available), visit our 2023 District Elections page.
Note: Some homes in south Bradley Stoke, within an area between Baileys Court Road and Winterbourne Road, lie within the Stoke Gifford district ward where electors will be asked to choose three representatives. For additional information, see: Candidates announced for district and parish elections in Stoke Gifford (SGJ).
To find out which district ward you are in, check your poll card or view this interactive map.
Town elections
The warding arrangements for Bradley Stoke Town Council, which were adjusted by the Boundary Commission ahead of the 2019 elections, have once again been altered, this time to create five wards represented by between two and four members each. The total number of seats on the council (15) is unchanged.
The last full elections in 2019 saw the Conservatives winning 12 seats, with two going to independents and one to Labour. Subsequent by-elections and allegiance switches have resulted in some minor changes, reducing the number of Conservative seats to ten as the four-year term comes to a close.
Whilst the Tories are putting up a full set of 15 candidates, Labour is only fielding only seven, followed by the Liberal Democrats and Greens with one each. Two independents are also standing.
Only nine of the current councillors are standing again, with none of the three councillors who switched allegiance over the past four years – Angela Morey, Fabrizio Fazzino and Ed Rose – appearing on the ballot papers this time.
Two councillors who served as mayor during the current administration are standing again despite seeing their reputations tarnished by stories in the Bristol Post during their period in office: Tom Aditya, Willowbrook ward (Bradley Stoke mayor ‘was awful landlord’ and says he can’t afford debt to ex-tenants) and Tony Griffiths, Primrose Bridge ward (Calls for Bradley Stoke mayor to resign after blasting Sir Keir Starmer for attending Queen’s funeral).
Two former councillors who lost their seats in previous elections are attempting a return: Marion Ward (Independent) and Jon Williams (Liberal Democrats), both in Stoke Brook ward.
As a consequence of the number of candidates they are putting up, and taking into account the specific situation in each of the wards, the Conservatives are guaranteed to win at last five seats – two in each of the Webbs Wood and Woodlands wards and one in Willowbrook ward.
The most hotly contested wards are Stoke Brook, where five candidates are chasing two seats, and Primrose Bridge, where there are six hopefuls for three seats.
For the full list of candidates, including profiles and photos (where available), visit our 2023 Town Elections page.
Related link: Elections in Bradley Stoke from 2008 to the present (The Journal)
