And they're off...parties begin county campaign

Nominations for polling day - held every four years in all 51 divisions - have now been finalised.

There are Conservatives seeking election in each seat, Liberal Democrats in 48 and Labour hopefuls in 46 of them.

In addition there are 11 Green Party candidates, five each for the BNP and UKIP, one English Democrat and one standing under the banner Middlewich First. There are a further eight Independents.

The current state of the parties is Conservative 28, Labour 16, Liberal Democrat 6 and Independent 1.

Each of the last two county council polls have been held on the same day as the General Election: in 1997 almost 391,000 votes were cast locally but four years ago the total had fallen to below 328,000 following an 11 per cent drop in turnout.

Eight of the existing county councillors have decided not to seek re-election next month.

Potential voters not certain of the Cheshire electoral division in which they live can use a search facility at www.cheshire.gov.uk and results will be published there on Friday, May 6, following the counts, which begin at 1pm.

For the first time there will be details on the website of how Cheshire County Council will send the results by text message to mobile phones of users who register in advance. People can also receive results by email.

The list of candidates

Northwich West

William McKnight Charlton, of Lyndale Court, Winsford, Conservative; Daniel Hannaway Maguire, Parliament Street, Castle, Labour Party; John Allan Turnbull, 3 Squirrel Close, Northwich, Liberal Democrat.

Northwich East and Shakerley

George Mainwaring, of Brook Street, Northwich, Labour; Ann McEllin, of Cedar Close, Lostock Gralam, Liberal Democrat; Barbara Smith, of Dairy House Farm, Croxton Lane, Byley, Middlewich, Conservative.

Marbury

Malcolm Roy Byram, Marbury Mill House, Marbury, Conservative; Charles Roy Garton, 68 Lydyett Lane, Barnton, Liberal Democrat; Mandy Griffiths, of Dunham Road, Northwich, Labour.

Abbey

Shirley Ann Harris, of Eaglesfield, Hartford, Conservative; Howard Geoffrey Thorp, of Hartford Road, Davenham, Green Party; Arthur Robert Wood, of London Road, Davenham, Liberal Democrat; Derek Harold Wright, of Chesterfield Close, Winsford, Labour.

Eddisbury

Virginia Gwynneth Geraerts, of Keepers Lane, Weaverham, Labour; Valerie Godfrey, of Forest Road, Cuddington, Liberal Democrat; Andrew Needham, of Croft Close, Utkinton, Conservative.

Frodsham and

Helsby

John Christopher Beech, of Martin Road, Frodsham, Labour; Gretta Ann Cousins, of Burrows Lane, Frodsham, Conservative; Trevor Nigel Griffiths, of Cliff View, Frodsham, Liberal Democrat.

Weaver

Nora Mary Dolphin, of Longmeadow, Weaverham, Conservative; Brian Jamieson, of Keepers Lane, Weaverham, Labour.

Winsford North and East Division

Anthony William Hooton, of Windermere Road, Winsford, Labour; Eleanor Mary Johnson, of Middlehurst Farm, Long Green, Barrow, Chester, Conservative; Desmond James Worthington, of Nixon Drive, Winsford, Liberal Democrat.

Winsford South

and West Division

Pam Booher, of Middlewich Road, Winsford, Labour; Anthony Dahill, of Bramble Bank, John Street, Utkinton, Tarporley, Conservative; Malcolm Ian Gaskill, of Pheasant Way, Winsford, Liberal Democrat.

Middlewich

Mark Barry, of Hereford Way, Middlewich, Conservative; Peter John Hurst, of Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Liberal Democrat; Christopher Parkes, of Tewkesbury Close, Middlewich, Labour; Michael John Parsons, of Waterside Way, Middlewich, Middlewich First.