Two former MPs are among the 165 candidates standing in the local elections in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

All 44 seats on Newcastle Borough Council will be contested in the elections on Thursday 7 May, and the full list of candidates standing across the 21 wards has now been published.

It is expected to be the last all-out election in Newcastle before the borough council is abolished and replaced as part of a major shake-up of local government in Staffordshire.

The borough council has been run by the Conservatives since 2017, who have had an overall majority since 2021.

There are currently 26 Tory councillors, with the opposition Labour group holding 17 seats. Reform UK won its first borough council seat in a by-election last year, but Lynn Dean left the party and subsequently resigned from the authority last month, leaving the Knutton seat vacant.

The Conservatives, Labour and Reform have put forward candidates for all 44 seats. The Green Party has 21 candidates standing, while there will be eight Lib Dems.

Former Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy, who also previously served as a borough councillor, is among the Conservative candidates. Former Stoke-on-Trent North Tory MP Jonathan Gullis will be standing for Reform.

The Conservatives believe they have a positive message to tell voters at these elections.

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Council leader and Conservative candidate Simon Tagg said: "We have a really good set of candidates for these elections, and I think we've had a good record over the last four years.

"We said that we'd keep council tax rises below two per cent, and that's what we've done. We've also got on with regeneration in Newcastle and Kidsgrove, with the three projects in Newcastle town centre now underway.

"We've seen at the county council what a shambles Reform have been, with all the resignations and the unnecessary pause on roadworks during the summer, meaning they've filled in fewer potholes.

"My party are also the only one that's properly standing against local government reorganisation and the merger with Stoke-on-Trent."

Parties in government nationally can often struggle in local elections, although Dave Jones, leader of the borough council's Labour group, believes his party can do well in May.

He said: "I think it's quite clear that people are dissatisfied with the way the Conservatives have been running the borough council. Newcastle still doesn't have a local plan, which is leaving green spaces in the borough vulnerable to developers. But it's not just the local plan.

"People want to see stronger, safer neighbourhoods and they want real regeneration in our town centres – not just turning car parks into flats, but more shopping opportunities and more things to do. Labour is facing a challenge nationally, but I believe that people in Newcastle know and like their Labour councillors and candidates."

At last year's county council elections, Reform UK won eight out of the nine seats in Newcastle as part of a landslide victory in Staffordshire.

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While the ruling Reform group on the county council has been hit by several racism scandals over the past 12 months, the party will be confident of seeing further election success in May.

Mr Gullis, who defected from the Conservatives last year, said: "Newcastle-under-Lyme borough has been let down for too long. Reform UK wants residents to feel this is a place they can be proud to raise a family in, go to work in, retire in and call home.

"Reform UK will stop the Conservatives' plan to spend your taxes on making the council Net Zero. Instead we'll invest your money on our high streets, clean up our parks so families can enjoy them, and support a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour with Staffordshire Police.

"Unlike the borough's Labour MPs, we will stand up to Sir Keir Starmer. People across Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough work hard, care deeply about their communities and deserve a council that does the same."

Council leader and Conservative candidate Simon Tagg has also been approached for comment.

Tamworth Borough Council and Cannock Chase District Council will also be holding elections on May 7, with a third of the seats on each authority being contested.

Here is a list of all the candidates standing in the Newcastle Borough Council elections.

Audley (three seats) 

• Maggie Babb – Lib Dem
• Nick Crisp – Conservative
• Eric Durber – Lib Dem
• Patricia Harrison – Reform UK
• Tom Heavey – Potteries Party
• Peter Lawrence – Labour
• Rhys Machin – Reform UK
• Sally Rudd – Conservative
• Janice Sain-Reiners – Reform UK
• John Sutton – Labour
• Claire Vodrey – Labour
• Andrew Wemyss – Lib Dem
• Ian Wilkes – Conservative

Bradwell (three seats) 

• Julie Cooper – Conservative
• Andrew Fox-Hewitt – Labour
• Jeanette Hodges – Conservative
• Pamela Jellyman – Reform UK
• Rebekah Lewis – Labour
• Jude Powell – Conservative
• Lesley Richards – Labour
• Liam Shirley – Green
• Ben Simpson – Reform UK
• Harry Smith – Green
• Glenn Tift – Reform UK

Clayton 

• Leigh Hughes – Labour
• Stephen Sweeney – Conservative
• Anja Winter – Lib Dem
• Paul Wood – Reform UK

Crackley and Red Street (two seats) 

• Lilian Barker – Conservative
• Joel Edgington-Plunkett – Labour
• Conna Eynon – Conservative
• Janet Pazio – Labour
• Deborah Percy – Green
• Vanessa Renshaw – Reform UK
• Peter Walton – Reform UK

Cross Heath (two seats) 

• Mark Harrison – Reform UK
• Thomas Molloy – Conservative
• Christoper Saxton – Reform UK
• Natalie Soleiman – Green
• Gill Williams – Labour
• John Williams – Labour
• Tom Wytcherley – Conservative

Holditch and Chesterton (two seats) 

• Wayne Barber – Reform UK
• Jon Chamberlain – Reform UK
• David Grocott – Labour
• Precious Osode – Labour
• Ken Owen – Conservative
• Kevin Robinson – Conservative

Keele 

• Sami Islam – Green
• Dave Jones – Labour
• Wenslie Naylon – Conservative
• James Vernon – Reform UK

Kidsgrove and Ravenscliffe (three seats) 

• Mark Allen – Labour
• Silvia Burgess – Labour
• Rebecca Carter – TUSC
• Kienen Catterall – Green
• Charlie Clarke – Reform UK
• Michael Dowler – Conservative
• Jonathan Gullis – Reform UK
• John Heesom – Conservative
• Simon Jones – Conservative
• Jason Owen – Labour
• Adam Rollison – Green
• Olivia Wozny – Reform UK

Knutton 

• James Dowler – Conservative
• Joshua Gilbert – Labour
• Graham Shaw – Reform UK

Loggerheads (two seats) 

• Nigel Hadfield – Labour
• Jeff Love – Labour
• Grant Robertson – Green
• Graham Sedgley – Conservative
• Robert Selwood – Reform UK
• Andrew Turnock – Conservative
• Phillip Watts – Reform UK

Madeley and Betley (two seats) 

• Robert Bettley-Smith – Conservative
• Elaine Blake – Labour
• Vicky England – Reform UK
• Steve French – Green
• Kerri Jackman – Green
• Moonoon Jawadin – Labour
• Neill Walker – Reform UK
• Jill Whitmore – Conservative

Maer and Whitmore 

• Dave Lee – Labour
• Jeremy Lefroy – Conservative
• Richard Woodward – Reform UK

May Bank (three seats) 

• Deborah Bailey – Reform UK
• Bayley Dickin – Labour
• David Hutchison – Conservative
• Oliver Kane – Green
• Jackie Olszewski – Labour
• Anthony-Claret Onwutalobi – Labour
• Craig Rolinson – Reform UK
• Finn Swain – Conservative
• John Tagg – Conservative
• Stefan Whittaker – Reform UK

Newchapel and Mow Cop (two seats) 

• Keith Cooper – Labour
• Gordon Davies – Independent
• Cressida Dickens – Conservative
• Jonathan Downs – Reform UK
• Sarah Pickup – Labour
• Jozsef Spekker – Conservative
• Scott Stevenson – Reform UK
• Ray Williams – Independent

Silverdale (two seats) 

• Martyn Ashworth – Reform UK
• Sylvia Butler – Labour
• Shauney Connor – Conservative
• George McBride – Conservative
• Ian Sparks – Reform UK
• Jamie Tomkinson – Green
• Thomas Wilson – Labour

Talke and Butt Lane (three seats) 

• David Allport – Labour
• Julie Dunlevy – Conservative
• Sylvia Dymond – Labour
• Gary Evans – Reform UK
• Trevor Johnson – Conservative
• Simon Kasperowicz – Reform UK
• Laura Matthews – Conservative
• Martin Rogerson – Reform UK
• Michael Stubbs – Labour

Thistleberry (two seats) 

• Sue Beeston – Conservative
• Hilary Jones – Lib Dem
• Nigel Jones – Lib Dem
• Christopher Mueller – Green
• Richard Sellers-Smith – Reform UK
• Chris Sweeney – Reform UK
• Joan Whielson – Conservative
• Margaret Wilkes – Labour
• Roger Wilkes – Labour

Town (two seats) 

• Amanda Berrisford – Conservative
• James Borg – Lib Dem
• Sheelagh Casey-Hulme – Labour
• Nick Chidlow – Green
• Christine Duffy – Reform UK
• Thomas Edgington – Reform UK
• Ian Gilmore – Conservative
• Morgan-Ross Inwood – Lib Dem
• Mark Jones – Green
• Ruth Wright – Labour

Westbury Park and Northwood (two seats) 

• Stephen Axon – Green
• Luke Bland – Labour
• Andrew Fear – Conservative
• David Gameson – Reform UK
• Adam Griffiths – Reform UK
• Andrew Parker – Conservative
• Richard Parkes – Labour
• Thomas Taylor – Green

Westlands (three seats) 

• Kyle Bolderson – Green
• Nicholas Butler – Labour
• Rosa Dilling – Green
• Gary Fedtschyscha – Reform UK
• Gillian Heesom – Conservative
• Mark Holland – Conservative
• Jaffar Khan – Green
• Mike Melling – Labour
• Keith Parker – Reform UK
• Gary Proctor – Reform UK
• Carol Stimpson – Labour
• Simon Tagg – Conservative

Wolstanton (two seats) 

• Christopher Bailey – Reform UK
• Andrew Fisher – Reform UK
• Philip Hodges – Conservative
• Shaun McDonagh – Conservative
• Mark Olszewski – Labour
• Philip Reece – Labour
• Robbie Trickett – Green