Every single Stevenage Borough Council seat is up for election on Thursday, May 2.
Voters across the town’s 13 wards will elect a total of 39 councillors who will look after the authority’s services and decisions – which include masterplanning, housing, bin day collections, and gyms and swimming centres.
Ballot boxes open at 7am and close at 10pm on polling day.
There are three seats in each ward.
Stevenage Borough Council is currently run by a Labour cabinet, backed by 24 out of 39 councillors.
Nine councillors sit on the Conservative bench, with six Liberal Democrats also among the political opposition.
Voters usually elect councillors bit by bit – with one-third of the seats up for election in three out of every four years.
But the Local Government Boundary Commission for England redrew and renamed some of the town’s wards, which triggered the “all out” vote in 2024.
Labour has pledged to “look for further opportunities to develop council homes on council-owned land” in its 14-page Stevenage manifesto – part of a headline pledge to improve the availability of housing in the town.
The party also said it would “protect free parking in the High Street”, redevelop The Oval shopping area, and launch a “robust anti-litter campaign with strong enforcement including fixed penalty notices”.
In a pre-election statement, Labour’s St Nicholas ward candidate Councillor Richard Henry took aim at his biggest challengers in the Conservative Party, who are contesting 21 out of 39 seats.
“The news that the Conservatives haven’t bothered to field a full complement of candidates in nine wards across the town shows they have given up on Stevenage,” he said.
Conservative hopeful Alex Clarkson denied the party has “given up” on Stevenage.
“We have got quality candidates and that, above all, was our priority,” he said.
Mr Clarkson will stand at the next general election when his party colleague Stephen McPartland – MP for Stevenage – steps down.
“All out elections are very unusual in Stevenage, so we have focused our attention on places where we are most likely to win seats to provide effective opposition if Labour wins again,” he added.
“There is at least one Conservative candidate in every ward, so everyone has the opportunity to vote for us.”
Mr Clarkson said his party wants to “stop the war on motorists, including damaging schemes such as the potential closure of Lytton Way” near the railway station.
He added: “There’s a real focus on town centre regeneration, but regeneration in areas like The Hyde and The Oval should be just as important.
“We need more housing but with a focus on family homes.”
Liberal Democrat councillor Robin Parker will contest Manor ward in 2024.
“The council needs to do more with a serious plan for residents’ parking,” he said.
“We get endless complaints about it – not enough space and parking in the wrong places.”
Cllr Parker said his party supports town centre regeneration but said the next administration must “get its act together” with a “clear plan for Lytton Way and whether it will be pedestrianised” – a decision which the authority will make with Hertfordshire County Council, where seats are not up for election until 2025.
“We would hope to be the second-largest party in Stevenage after May 2,” the Liberal Democrat candidate said.
Green Party, Reform UK and Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts candidates will also contest the local elections in Stevenage, hoping to secure their first seats on the authority.
Here are the candidates standing in the Stevenage Borough Council elections 2024:
Almond Hill
Three seats for election.
- Paul Dawson – Green
- Marcel Houps – Conservative
- Lin Martin-Haugh – Labour
- Tom Plater – Labour
- Richard Reece – Liberal Democrat
- Jeannette Thomas – Labour
Bandley Hill and Poplars
Three seats for election.
- Jim Brown – Labour
- Adrian Busolini – Green
- Kamal Choudhury – Labour
- David Denny-Stubbs – Conservative
- Victoria Facey – Conservative
- Michael Hearn – Reform UK
- Charles Littleton – Liberal Democrat
- Riad Mannan – Liberal Democrat
- Mark Pickersgill – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Peter Wilkins – Liberal Democrat
- Jade Woods – Labour
- Matthew Wyatt – Conservative
Bedwell
Three seats for election.
- Christopher Berry – Liberal Democrat
- Cathy Bibby – Conservative
- Nazmin Chowdhury – Labour
- Steve Glennon – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Steven Hodges – Green
- Conor McGrath – Labour
- Ellie Plater – Labour
Chells
Three seats for election.
- Julie Ashley-Wren – Liberal Democrat
- Stephen Booth – Liberal Democrat
- Christine Clarkson – Conservative
- David Ingarfill – Green
- John Lloyd – Labour
- Patrick Newman – Labour
- Thea Pendlebury – Labour
- Tom Wren – Liberal Democrat
Longmeadow
Three seats for election.
- Doug Bainbridge – Reform UK
- Jim Borcherds – Green
- Peter Clark – Labour
- Philip Durling – Reform UK
- Akin Elekolusi – Labour
- Bret Facey – Conservative
- Alex Farquharson – Conservative
- Lynda Guy – Labour
- Matthew Hurst – Reform UK
- Helen Kerr – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Adam Mitchell – Conservative
- Matthew Snell – Liberal Democrat
Manor
Three seats for election.
- Louisa Barr – Labour
- Andy Goldsmith – Conservative
- Ashlee Hodson – Green
- Andy McGuinness – Liberal Democrat
- Maureen McKay – Labour
- Robin Parker – Liberal Democrat
- Graham Snell – Liberal Democrat
- Peter Taylor – Labour
Martins Wood
Three seats for election.
- Myla Arceno – Labour
- Janet Bainbridge – Reform UK
- Lloyd Briscoe – Labour
- Andy Facey – Conservative
- Mark Gentleman – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Robert Henry – Reform UK
- Chris Hodson – Green
- Naomi Lovelace-Collins – Green
- Anthony Segadelli – Liberal Democrat
- Carolina Veres – Labour
Old Town
Three seats for election.
- Andrew Anderson – Liberal Democrat
- Harry Curtis – Conservative
- Coleen Houlihan – Labour
- Mason Humberstone – Labour
- Mark Kerr – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Dhiren Malavia – Conservative
- Maria Wheeler – Conservative
- Andy Whitmore – Green
- Nigel Williams – Labour
Roebuck
Three seats for election.
- Nigel Bye – Liberal Democrat
- Forhad Chowdhury – Labour
- Bryan Clare – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Pawel Gora – Green
- Alistair Gordon – Labour
- Nick Leech – Conservative
- Anne Wells – Labour
Shephall
Three seats for election.
- David Barks – Liberal Democrat
- Rob Broom – Labour
- Barbara Clare – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Celia Lawrence – Conservative
- Sarah Mead – Labour
- Stephani Mok – Green
- Simon Speller – Labour
St Nicholas
Three seats for election.
- Sandra Barr – Labour
- Amber Gentleman – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Richard Henry – Labour
- Hazel Jones – Liberal Democrat
- Chris Keane – Green
- Mel Mitchell – Conservative
- Claire Parris – Labour
Symonds Green
Three seats for election.
- Clive Hearmon – Liberal Democrat
- Jackie Hollywell – Labour
- Jack Ingarfill – Conservative
- Trevor Palmer – Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts
- Ceara Roopchand – Labour
- Loraine Rossati – Labour
- Becca Watts – Green
Woodfield
Three seats for election.
- Amodio Amato – Reform UK
- Phil Bibby – Conservative
- Robert Boyle – Labour
- Leanne Brady – Labour
- Jill Brinkworth – Liberal Democrat
- Neil Brinkworth – Liberal Democrat
- Jody Hanafin – Conservative
- Margaret Notley – Conservative
- Swatantra Tripathi – Labour
- Richard Warr – Green
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