May 2016 elections: Who's standing to be your councillor in Dudley?

A total of 25 seats are up for grabs across the borough, with 15 of them currently held by councillors from the ruling Labour group.

Last year's elections saw Labour retain its grip on the council, although its majority dipped as the Conservatives made ground thanks to Labour losing four seats.

The casualties included deputy leader Stuart Turner, who lost the Gornal seat to Tory Anne Millward by the slender margin of 151 votes.

The Conservatives kept hold of their seat in Sedgley by a majority of 1,040 with Tina Westwood taking the reigns from her father David Caunt, while the Tories' Jeff Hill won the Hayley Green and Cradley South seat.

Labour currently holds 38 of the authority's 72 seats. The Conservatives form the opposition with 25 seats, while UKIP has seven councillors after failing to make any ground in 2015.

One seat each is held by an independent candidate and the Green Party.

The Lib Dems are without a single councillor and appear to be a spent force in the borough.

Last year the turnout was a healthy 64.99 per cent, with a total of 155,214 votes cast out of an electorate of 240,310.

There have already been two by-elections in the borough this year.

Kingswinford North and Wall Heath was held by the Conservatives' Edward Lawrence after Natalie Neale quit for personal reasons in December.

Meanwhile Cathryn Bayton held the St James's seat for Labour that had been made vacant by the death of popular councillor Mary Roberts, who served the ward for eight years.

Both by-elections were marked by low turnouts of 26 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.

This time around two seats are available in Pedmore and Stourbridge East, due to Mike Wood standing down after he was elected as MP for Dudley South.

In the same ward Les Jones, who is contesting the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner elections on the same day, will defend his seat.

The seats of three cabinet members are on the line. Environmental services boss Hilary Bills will contest the Halesowen North seat, while Dave Branwood, cabinet member for adult social care will head to the polls in Gornal.

Housing chief Gaye Partridge goes to the vote in Cradley and Wollescote against Simon Archer (Green Party), Mitchell Bolton (UKIP) and Tory Phil Naylor.

Hazel Turner is standing down after representing Hayley Green and Cradley South for 13 years.

Her decision to retire comes a year after her husband Ken Turner quit. The pair had both served as independents after resigning from UKIP in 2014.

The Green Party's sole seat in Netherton, Woodside and St Andrew's will be contested in the wake of the national party's former deputy leader Will Duckworth's decision to step aside.

He became the first Green Party councillor in the Black Country when he was elected to the ward in 2012.

Bill McComish is the party's candidate for the ward. He will come up against UKIP's Stephen Daniels, Christine Perks of Labour and Conservative Mohammad Razzaq.

Overall the Greens have candidates up for 17 seats, while UKIP has 24 candidates, the Lib Dems five and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has one.

Labour has now controlled the authority for the last four years, having previously spent eight years in opposition to the ruling Conservatives.

*denotes incumbent party

Amblecote

BAINES, Julie (Lab)*; FLYNN, Ian (Lib Dem); LEE, Pete (UKIP); MISHAQ, Asan (Cons)

Belle Vale

HARTLESS, Jon Jak (Green); RUSSELL, Donella Joy (Lab)*; TAYLOR, Laura (Cons)

Brierley Hill

COLLEY, Rich (UKIP); CRAIGIE, Serena (Lab)*; DAVIES, Ceri (Cons); ELCOCK, Gordon (Green)

Brockmoor and Pensnett

GREENAWAY, Sue (Cons); HARRIS, Marcia (UKIP); MARTIN, John (Lab)*; SWEENEY, Benjamin (Green)

Castle and Priory

ASTON, Margaret (Lab)*; DAVIES, Tony (UKIP); WHATLING, Clive (Cons)

Coseley East

DUFFIELD, Martin (Cons); RIDNEY, Sue (Lab)*; WINYARD, Craig (UKIP)

Cradley and Wollescote

ARCHER, Daniel (Green); BOLTON, Mitchell (UKIP); NAYLOR, Phil (Cons; PARTRIDGE, Gaye (Lab)*

Gornal

BRANWOOD, Dave (Lab)*; BROOKES, Brian Thomas (UKIP); STANLEY, David (Cons); VIRGO, Ryan (Green)

Halesowen North

BILLS, Hilary (Lab)*; ELLIOTT, Jonathan (Cons); HUNT, Nathan (UKIP); PAYNE, John (Green)

Halesowen South

MAXWELL, Jenny (Green); RUSSELL, Mark (Lab); TAYLOR, Nicola (UKIP); VICKERS, David (Cons)*

Hayley Green & Cradley South

BUTTERY, Ruth (Cons); FREEMAN, Malcolm (Lab); HILL, Jennifer (UKIP)*; ROYLE, Colin (Green)

Kingswinford North and Wall Heath

BARRAS, Donna (Cons); RALPH, David (UKIP); TYLER, David (Lab)*

Kingswinford South

DUCKWORTH, Vicky (Green); JOHNSON, Luke (Cons)*; RALPH, Lesley (UKIP); SALEEM, Shaz (Lab)

Lye and Stourbridge North

ALI, Muhammad (Cons); ROWLETT, Lawrence (Green); WALE, Vanessa (Lab)*; WILDE, Wendy (UKIP)

Netherton, Woodside and St Andrew's

DANIELS, Stephen (UKIP); McCOMISH, William (Green)*; PERKS, Christine (Lab); RAZZAQ, Mohammad (Cons)

Norton

ARCHER, Pam (Green); ATTWOOD, Mike (Cons)*; BRAMALL, Christopher (Lib Dem); POWELL, David (UKIP); REBBECK, Clive (Lab)

Pedmore and Stourbridge East – Two seats up for election due to Mike Wood (Cons) becoming an MP

DEAN, Jonathan (Lab); HANSON, Simon (Lib Dem); HIGGINS, Phil (Lab); JONES, Les (Cons)*; LEES, Angus (Cons); LITTLEY, Craig (Green); MUCKLOW, Stephanie (Lib Dem); SARGEANT, Lee (UKIP); WILSON, Glen (UKIP)

Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood

ARCHER, Maurice (Green); BLAKE, Christopher (Cons); COTTERILL, Bryan (Lab)*; HORTON, Dean (UKIP); KNIGHT, Adam (Trade Unionist and Soc Coalition)

Sedgley

CORFIELD, Damian (Lab); EVANS, Michael (Cons)*; KEASEY, Shaun (UKIP)

St James's

AHMED, Asif (Lab)*; CROSSEN, Adrian Denis (Green); LLOYD, Graeme (UKIP); SULLIVAN, Wayne (Cons); WESTON, Kevin (Indep)

St Thomas's

ALI, Shaukat*; MILLWARD, Daryl (Cons); WIMLETT, Phil (UKIP)

Upper Gornal and Woodsetton

BROOKES, Daniel (Green); CASEY, Keiran (Lab)*; JONES, Karen (UKIP); WATTS, Neil (Cons)

Wollaston and Stourbridge Town

FRANCE, Benjamin (Lib Dem); HALE, Chris (Lab)*; HOPWOOD, Alan (Cons); LOWE, Maxim (UKIP); MOHR, Andi (Green)

Wordsley

BILLINGHAM, Kevin (Lab); LEWIS, Kerry (UKIP); MAGUIRE, Catherine (Green); RAZZAQ, Kamran (Cons)