TRAFFORD will go to the polls next month with a third of its seats up for grabs.

One seat in each of the 21 wards is being contested on Thursday, May 2, with 101 candidates standing across the borough.

Of the seats being contested Labour currently hold eight and the Conservatives 13.

The Lib Dems and Green Party hold two seats each but neither party will face the public vote this time around.

There are two Independent candidates standing for election, Sandra Taylor in Hale Barns, and Stephen Farndon in Broadheath ward.

Neil Taylor is the only Liberal Party candidate fighting to secure a seat in Timperley.

While UKIP is fielding 12 candidates across the borough.

However, more then half of the Tory candidates up for re-election this year have opted to stand down.  

Long-standing councillor Michael Young has represented Altringham since 2006 has decided not to stand, however, his wife, Patrica, will be defending her Hale Central seat.

Bowdon ward councillor Michael Hyman and Davyhulme West councillor John Riley, who collectively have clocked up three decades of public service, also plan to retire.

While Hale Barns councillor Bernard Sharp, elected in 2004, will not be defending his seat, however, he had planned to stand as an Independent but withdrew the nomination.

Other Tory councillors standing down are David Hopps, who represents Brooklands, and Davyhulme East councillor Mark Cawdrey.

Broadheath councillor Stephen Anstee, elected in 2015, announced his departure from politics last year ­— and cited family reasons as the cause.

While Village ward councillor Laura Evans has quit the borough, but not local politics, as she has been selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wirral West.

Husband Nathan Evans, however, will still serve as a Timperley ward councillor.

Labour’s Ejaz Malik, who has represented Clifford ward since 2004, is also stepping down.

Last year,  Labour brought 14 years of Conservative rule to an end when it wrestled away four of its wards and tipped the council into no overall control, with 30 seats to the Tories’ 29.

Neither party had the majority of 32 seats needed to assume overall control, which forced Labour into signing a 10-point coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats.

Trafford was the last blue patch on Greater Manchester’s map before it was wiped out by Labour.

This year, however, the political landscape isn’t expected to change quite so dramatically, but the swathe of Conservative councillors stepping down may tip the balance further into Labour’s favour. 

Here’s a full list of candidates standing in Trafford elections:

Altrincham

Ged Carter – Labour Party

Martin Harold – Liberal Democrats

Angela Stone – Conservative Party

Michael Welton – Green Party

Ashton Upon Mersey

Martin Elliott – Liberal Democrats

Ben Hartley – Labour Party

Brian Johnson – UKIP

Caroline Robertson-Brown – Green Party

Mike Whetton – Conservative Party

Bowdon

Claire Churchill – Conservative Party

Thomas Hague – Labour Party

Deborah Leftwich – Green Party

Ludo Tolhurst-Cleaver – Liberal Democrats

Broadheath

Serena Carr – Labour Party

Stephen Farndon – Independent

Daniel Gresty – Green Party

Christopher Marritt – Liberal Democrats

Norine Napier – UKIP

Shengke Zhi – Conservative Party

Brooklands

Pauline Cliff – Liberal Democrats

Michelle McGrath – Conservative Party

Tony Nayler – UKIP

Joe Ryan – Green Party

Rose Thompson – Labour Party

Bucklow-St Martins

Lyall Ainscow –  Conservative Party

Andrew Beaumont – UKIP

Rodrigo Capucho – Green Party

Stephen Power – Liberal Democrats

Aidan Williams – Labour Party

Clifford

Akilah Akinola – Labour Party

Alex Finney –  Conservative Party

Jess Mayo – Green Party

Dave Nicholson – Liberal Democrats

Davyhulme East

Dawn Carberry-Power -Liberal Democrats

Daniel Kupusarevic –  Conservative Party

Gary Regan – UKIP

Steven Tennant-Smythe – Green Party

Barry Winstanley – Labour Party

Davyhulme West

Karina Carter – Labour Party

Lisa Cook –  Conservative Party

Ram Nachiappan – Green Party

Paul Regan – UKIP

Ged Zuk – Liberal Democrats

Flixton

James Cook – UKIP

Jonathan Coupe – Conservative Party

Shirley Procter – Labour Party

Ian Sutherland – Liberal Democrats

Tim Woodward –   Green Party

Gorse Hill

Mike Cordingley – Labour Party

Adam Dean – Liberal Democrats

Seamus Martin – UKIP

Gareth Parker – Conservative Party

Jennie Wadsworth – Green Party

Hale Barns

Maggie Boysen – Liberal Democrats

Jessica Hession – Green Party

Dave Morgan – Conservative Party

Ian Royle – UKIP

Sandra Taylor –  Independent

Barbara Twiney – Labour Party

Hale Central

Will Frazz – Liberal Democrats

Stephen Leicester – Green Party

Benjamin Slater –  Labour Party

Patricia Young – Conservative Party

Longford

Anne Duffield – Labour Party

Anna Fryer – Liberal Democrats

Adam Miya –  Conservative Party

Margaret Westbrook – Green Party

Priory

Kevin Grime – UKIP

Louis Marks – Conservative Party

Nicholas Robertson-Brown – Green Party

Briony Stephenson – Liberal Democrats

Andrew Western – Labour Party

Sale Moor

Joanne Bennett – Labour Party

Jane Leicester – Green Party

Matt Leigh – Conservative Party

Simon Wright – Liberal Democrats

St Mary’s

Jill Axford – Labour Party

Daniel Bunting – Conservative Party

Kathy Mason – UKIP

James McGlashan – Green Party

Alison Smith – Liberal Democrats

Stretford

Stephen Anthony Adshead – Labour Party

Simon Lepori – Liberal Democrats

Si Leung –   Conservative Party

Liz O’Neill – Green Party

Timperley

Angela Bruer-Morris – Conservative Party

Jadwiga Leigh – Green Party

Meena Minnis –  Liberal Democrats

Pauline Royle – UKIP

Neil Taylor – The Liberal Party

Urmston

Krissy Douglas – UKIP

Shaun Ennis – Liberal Democrats

Jo Harding – Labour Party

Lijo John – Local Conservatives

Luciya Whyte – Green Party

Village

Waseem Hassam – Labour Party

Darren Meacher – Conservative Party

Julian Newgrosh – Liberal Democrats

Angela O’Neill – UKIP

Robert Raikes – Green Party