A HUSBAND and wife are battling against each other to come out on top in the all-out borough council election next Thursday.

Conservative candidate Peter Linton and independent hopeful Amy, who have been married for three years and been together for ten, are standing in Birchwood.

Amy had been approached by Labour and Tory members seeking to persuade her to represent the parties but she made a decision at the start of last month.

The 31-year-old volunteers across a range of projects including with Trolley Angels, Sure Start and Wire Choir.

And despite confirming election rival Peter has been at hand to offer guidance when needed, Amy is vowing to portray her own beliefs at the Town Hall, if elected in.

She added: "I thought it would be brilliant to run as an independent.

"Peter has been very supportive and offers me impartial views – he is my husband and I love him.

"He is a good person and I am behind him to support him as a wife but not as someone on the same party.

"There are a lot of political arguments going on and I don't want to be part of that.

"I am not here for fighting, I am here to represent the people and to work in the heart of the community.

"I also want to do all I can to change the mindset of people around politics to get more to vote."

Chartered accountant Peter believes his partner is a 'fantastic candidate' and is anticipating a tight result once the ballot boxes slam shut.

The 30-year-old said: "I don't see it as campaigning against each other – if she won and I did not I would not begrudge her.

"We spoke about the election quite a lot after Amy told me she wanted to stand.

"Amy has issues she wants to tackle and I do as well. I would be delighted if I get the chance to make a difference in the community."

The Birchwood residents, who are parents to five-year-old Eleanor, have also been critical of Labour claims suggesting residents 'voting independent will get a Tory'.

Peter added: "Why assume she has the same beliefs as me?

"They have been quite aggressive but we just want to do all we can to help the community."

Amy confirmed Eleanor won't be choosing a favourite next week but she said the youngster will continue to inspire her.

"She can't make a decision on something like this yet but she does help me volunteer which is great," she added.

With just a week to go until the pair find out their fate we tested out how much they know about each other in our very own edition of Mr & Mrs.

We asked them both three questions to see if they could guess how their significant other would answer.

The three questions put to the married couple were:

-Who is your partner's favourite political figure?

-How will they vote in the EU referendum?

-Will they vote for you in next week's borough council election?

Amy predicted Peter would choose Milton Friedman, vote to remain in the EU and vote for her, while Peter guessed Barack Obama, a vote to stay in and said he thinks Amy will vote for him.

Amy's actual answers were Green Party candidate Lyndsay McAteer, a vote to stay in and she will be voting for Peter.

Peter confirmed Margaret Thatcher was his favourite political figure, he will vote to stay in and he will be voting for Amy.

So each candidate managed to guess a very respectable two out of three.

Now the focus turns to next Thursday.