Hoping to boost its current representation of four elected councillors at Shire Hall, Stroud District's Green Party has named its candidates for the May 1 poll.

The party is standing candidates in all 11 divisions in Stroud District and says it is confident that it can increase the number of Green seats. 

The vote takes place against the backdrop of being the first poll of political leanings since Keir Starmer swept Labour to power for the first time in 14 years, with Gloucestershire waking up on July 5 2024  to a hugely altered map.

By district, the Green candidates are: Bisley and Painswick, Cllr Gary Luff, who currently represents Painswick at Ebley Mill; Haresfield and Upton, John Patient; Stroud Central, Cllr Natalie Rothwell-Warn (SDC councillor for Stroud Slade); Stonehouse, Tom Jarman; Rodborough and Cainscross, Cllr Craig Horrocks (town councillor for Farmhill and Paganhill; Minchinhampton, incumbent Cllr Chloe Turner, county (and SDC councillor) for Minchinhampton; Nailsworth, Cllr Gill Thomas, curently SDC councillor for Minchinhampton; Dursley, Dr Richard Dean; Hardwicke and Severn, Kerri Tyler; Cam Valley, Cllr Liz Hillary, town councillor in Stroud; Wotton, Cllr Sue Fenton, town councillor for Stroud Trinity.

With less than four week's to the poll, across all parties and persuasions in the Stroud district, contenders for Shire Hall are now finalised. 

By division, they are:

Bisley and Painswick: Guy Fancourt, Liberal Democrats; Chas Fellow, Reform UK; Alex Hughes, Labour; Gary Luff, Green Party; Sue Williams, Conservative.

Cam Valley: Terry Cook, Labour; Nick Easby, Liberal Democrats; Lindsey Jane Green, Conservative; Liz Hillary, Green; Michael Alun Rees, Reform UK; Brian Tipper, Independent.

Dursley: Richard Dean, Green; Anna Mainwaring, Labour; Loraine Vivienne Patrick, Conservative; Richard Christopher Wilsher, Liberal Democrats; Jonathan Wren, Reform UK

Hardwicke and Severn: Stephen Frank Davies, Conservative; Simon MacGregor, Labour; Luke Parry, Reform UK; Mike Stayte, Liberal Democrats; Kerri Anna Tyler, Green.

Haresfield and Upton St Leonards: Deborah Jeanette Harwood, Independent; Chris Lester, Reform UK; Tom Moseley, Liberal Democrats; John Graham Patient, Green; Demelza Jane Turner Wilkes, Conservative; Lesley Williams, Labour.

Nailsworth:: Simon Craig Green, Reform UK; Max Oliver John Howells, Conservative; Steve Robinson, Labour and Cooperative; Colleen Angela Rothwel, Liberal Democrats; Gill Thomas, Green.

Rodborough: John Bloxsam, Labour and Cooperative; Craig Alan Horrocks, Green; Gary Keating, Reform UK; Sharon Elizabeth Sugars, Conservative; Juliette Louise Ttofa, Liberal Democrats.

Stonehouse: Dean Raymond Botterill, Reform UK; Christopher John Easton, Conservative; Adam Goiulcher, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition; Nick Housden, Independent; Tom Jarman, Green; Karen Linforth, Labour; Richard Paul Osborn, Liberal Democrats.

Stroud Central: Piers Hobson, Socialist Party of Great Britain; George William James, Liberal Democrats;Hena Mannanrahman, Conservative; Chris Moore, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition; Shelley Rider, Labour Party; Natalie Rothwell-Warn, Green; Daryl Leslie Arthur Smith, Reform UK.

Wotton-under-Edge: Linda Janet Cohen, Liberal Democrats; Susan Lesley Fenton, Green; Darren Paul Kirkpatrick, Reform UK; Steven Richard Mackay, Labour; Graham Steven Smith, Conservative.

● In all, 14 county councils across England will be up for re-election of their makeup. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes a list of elections by year for each local authority in England, and you can access all that information here.