TWO senior Labour borough councillors have been deselected from contesting next year’s all-out elections.

Cllr Hitesh Patel (LAB – Great Sankey South), cabinet member for transformation, and Cllr Judith Guthrie (LAB – Westbrook), cabinet member for environment and public protection, are among the casualties.

Poplars and Hulme councillor and chief whip Brian Maher has also been deselected.

Furthermore, Cllr Jean Carter, former portfolio holder for children’s services, has been deselected from Great Sankey South but will be a candidate in Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall.

Cllr Patel issued a short statement on the matter.

He said: “It has been a real privilege to represent the residents of Great Sankey South for the last nine years and I’d like to thank the Labour Party, and more importantly the electorate, for that opportunity.

“My term of office doesn’t actually end until May 2020 and, in the meantime, there is still plenty of work to do representing the public at the Town Hall.”

Cllr Carter says she has been a ‘hard-working’ councillor in Great Sankey South and will carry on in the same manner for the next 11 months.

She added: “I am very disappointed to be deselected from Great Sankey South but am delighted to be selected for Great Sankey North and will continue to be a hard-working councillor.”

As part of her remit, Cllr Guthrie has held responsibility for the highly controversial draft local plan.

But she did not wish to comment on her deselection.

Labour’s shortlisting and selection event for the 2020 all-out elections took place at Orford Jubilee Hub on Sunday.

Chris Vobe, son of Warrington North MP Helen Jones, is among the candidates to be selected to contest the elections.

Mr Vobe held the Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft borough council seat between May 2012 and May 2016 before stepping down.

Mr Vobe was suspended by Labour in 2012 but no charges were brought by the Crown Prosecution Service against him following police investigations into alleged ‘unlawful access to a personal e-mail account’.

Council leader Cllr Russ Bowden, deputy leader Cllr Cathy Mitchell and former leader Cllr Terry O’Neill have also been confirmed as candidates.

A Labour source told the Warrington Guardian that they believe the ‘dimensions of the council will have noticeably shifted’ following the elections in 2020.