CANDIDATES will be fighting for a third of council seats in Weymouth and Portland.

As well as the fight for power in Parliament, local elections are being held on Thursday, May 7 - including for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and Portland Town Council.

See picture below for the full list.

Councillors are elected in thirds to the borough council and seats across 12 wards are being contested this year. Elections are not being held in the wards of Littlemoor, Portland Underhill and Westham East this year.

Although Labour is currently the largest party on the council with 14 members, the group does not have enough to be in overall control.

Elections come at a time when crucial decisions are being made about the future of Weymouth town centre and ways to attract inward investment and create new jobs. It will also be the last local election before the council moves from its North Quay base and the site is bulldozed.

There will be a new councillor for most wards this time round as 2015 is marking the departure of a number of members, including long-serving councillors Joy Stanley, Mike Goodman and Bill White.

Also not seeking re-election are Peter Chapman, Amanda Munro, and Jane Hall.

There is also a shake-up in other wards following the announcement by Anne Kenwood, current councillor for Wyke Regis, that she was leaving the Labour group. She will stand in Westham West for the Liberal Democrats, as will Labour's Andy Blackwood who is switching from Westham North.

Meanwhile, Lucy Hamilton has switched from Westham West to fight for Labour in Wyke Regis.

While election day is on Thursday, May 7 the count for both Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and Portland Town Council will take place the following day from 2.30pm at Weymouth Pavilion.

On Portland, 10 seats across the two parish wards of Tophill East and Tophill West are being contested.

Underhill ward has gone uncontested meaning the only four candidates who put their names forward will be automatically elected to the four seats.

They are current mayor, independent Rob Hughes, independents Glenn Chadwick and Rod Wild and Labour's Sandy West.

Cllr Chadwick said: “I don’t have to go canvassing up and down the hill now, so it saves me a lot of walking “We’ve spent this year building bridges and repairing damage. I’m looking forward to working together and moving forward."

Cllr Hughes said: “Obviously there are elections to be had on Tophill East and West. A few of the candidates are younger which is nice to hear.”

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