Candidates have been announced for the South Gloucestershire district elections and Stoke Gifford parish elections, both of which take place on Thursday 4th May 2023.
This date also marks the separation of Stoke Park and Cheswick from Stoke Gifford to form a parish of its own, following a Community Governance Review.
District elections
As at the previous elections in 2019, the Stoke Gifford ward will once again be electing three members to South Gloucestershire Council (SGC).
The three successful Conservative candidates had margins of around 6 percentage points over their closest (Labour) rivals at the last election. But with the party languishing in national opinion polls the challengers will no doubt be hoping to close that gap and potentially gain some of the seats.
Two of the current councillors, Brian Allinson and Ernie Brown, are stepping down, leaving Keith Cranney as the only defending Conservative incumbent. Joining him on the blue ticket are Stoke Gifford resident Neel Das Gupta and Bradley Stoke based Tony Griffiths (the latter currently a town councillor in Bradley Stoke).
The Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats are each putting up a full team of three candidates in an effort to wrest seats from the Tories.
The Labour candidates are David Addison (currently a Stoke Gifford parish councillor), local resident Brian Mead and Daniel Harris.
The Liberal Democrat team is headed by Jon Williams, formerly a district councillor for Bradley Stoke North and now living in Stoke Gifford. He is joined by local resident Kimberley Stansfield and Karl Tomasin.
For the full list of candidates, including profiles and photos (where available), visit our 2023 District Elections page.
The boundary of the Stoke Gifford district ward, which includes a small part of south Bradley Stoke, may be viewed using this interactive map.
Parish elections
Following the recent Community Governance Review, Stoke Gifford has been divided into three parish wards, namely North (4 seats), Central (6 seats) and South (2 seats). The total number of seats on the council (12) is unchanged.
The North ward covers Little Stoke (including Bush Avenue); the Central ward includes Stoke Gifford ‘village’ and the ‘Royal Estate’; while the South ward covers everything south of the railway.
The North and South parish wards are uncontested at the upcoming elections, as they both have exactly the number of candidates standing as there are seats to fill. Consequently, the composition of half the new parish council is already known, with four of the six seats going to the Conservatives and the other two to Labour.
A poll will take place for those electors living in the Central ward where the six seats are being contested by eleven candidates – six from Labour, three from the Conservatives, one from the Liberal Democrats and one Independent.
For the full list of candidates, including profiles and photos (where available), visit our 2023 Parish Elections page.
Related link: Elections in Stoke Gifford from 2015 to the present (The Journal)
