You don’t need to take your fountain pen to the polling station, just get yourself there!

Thursday 4 May: vote, vote, vote…

Brenda from Bristol might have nailed the mood of the nation with her reaction to the news of the General Election – but don’t let that stop you from using your vote in the East Sussex County Council elections this Thursday, 4 May. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm. If you are on the electoral register, you don’t need to take your polling card with you, but you will need to give your name and address details. HOT’s Erica Smith takes a look at who is standing where.

The list of candidates standing in the eight County Council wards doesn’t offer many surprises. Top marks to the Green Party for putting up a full team of candidates. There is only one Independent standing – Diane Granger in Maze Hill and West St Leonards ward, and in Ashdown and Conquest, Eileen Masters is standing jointly for Labour and Cooperative Party.

UKIP are notable by their absence, though Diane Granger stood for them previously – with Brexit a near-certain outcome, it looks like the UKIP mission has been achieved and the party has imploded. The biggest surprise to me was to see Claire Hamill, the singer/songwriter (famed for writing Eva Cassidy’s posthumous hit You take my breath away) standing in the Old Town for the Conservative Party.

Ashdown and Conquest
Conservative: Peter Pragnell
Green: Gabriel Carlyle
Labour and Cooperative Party: Eileen Masters
Liberal Democrat: Robert Wakeford

Baird and Ore
Conservative: Laurie Loe
Green: Judy Scott
Labour: Kim Forward
Liberal Democrat: Katy Hunter-Burbridge

Braybrooke and Castle
Conservative: Rob Cooke
Green: Andrea Needham
Labour: Godfrey Daniel
Liberal Democrat: Xan Brooker

Central St Leonards and Gensing
Conservative: Graeme Williams
Green: Paul Homer
Labour: Trevor Webb
Liberal Democrat: Tony Seymour

Hollington and Wishing Tree
Conservative: John Rankin
Green: Arkady Johns
Labour: Phil Scott
Liberal Democrat: Stephen Milton

Maze Hill and West St Leonards
Conservative: Matthew Beaver
Green: Thaddeus Skews
Labour: Steve Thorpe
Liberal Democrat: Eve Montgomery
Independent: Diane Granger

Old Hastings and Tressell
Conservative: Claire Hamill
Green: Julia Hilton
Labour: Tania Charman
Liberal Democrat: John Faulkner

St Helens and Silverhill
Conservative: Martin Clarke
Green: Sally Phillips
Labour: Judy Rogers
Liberal Democrat: Stewart Rayment

You don’t need to register to vote for this election if you are already registered to vote at your current address. You can check if you are on the electoral register by sending an email to electoralservices@hastings.gov.uk. To find out more about the election and where your polling station is located, visit this web link. Oh – and don’t use a fountain pen like the image at the top of this article. Use the pencil provided in the polling booth!

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