THE Chipping Sodbury and Cotswold Edge ward covers a huge area.
Stretching from Chipping Sodbury in the south west to Acton Turville in the south east, and including Wickwar and Hawkesbury Upton in the north, there are seven different parish councils in the area.
But the ward’s voters are mainly concentrated in Chipping Sodbury and Wickwar.
The ward has two seats, both of which were won in by the Liberal Democrats in 2019.
In a close-run race, the second-placed Lib Dem candidate was just 12 votes ahead of the leading Conservative in third, receiving 1,539 votes to 1,527.
Four years ago the election was contested by six candidates – two each from the Lib Dems, Tories and Labour, with 43% of voters turning out.
This year there is only one Labour candidate.
The Voice invited all of the candidates in the election to submit a short statement and picture, to introduce themselves to voters.
They appear here in the order they will be listed on ballot papers on polling day.
Roisin Hall (Conservative)
Roisin lives in Hawkesbury Upton with her husband and three children. Roisin spent many years living in Chipping Sodbury, and has been a member of Sodbury Players dramatics group. Roisin has been working to protect our beautiful green fields and deliver soft plastic recycling to every house in South Gloucestershire.
Ian Lowe (Labour)
“I am standing as a candidate for the first time to give people the opportunity to vote for a Party committed to improving public services and supporting working people. I have lived in Chipping Sodbury for 40 years and supported the community as a member of Rotary for nineteen years.”
Becky Romaine (Conservative)
Becky lives in Chipping Sodbury with her husband and their two children. Becky has been a trustee of a charity which deals with childhood trauma and is on the PTA at St John’s Mead Primary School, and she is passionate about the environment and securing more funding for local schools.
Adrian Rush (Liberal Democrats)
Adrian has lived in the area for most of his life and was first elected as South Glos member for Chipping Sodbury in 1995 but had been on the Town Council and Northavon before that. A keen environmentalist, he is the current planning lead for the Liberal Democrats.
Patricia Trull (Liberal Democrats)
Pat grew up locally and lives in Wickwar. Worked for twenty four years as a charity worker and fundraiser, eighteen as a Parish clerk. A current ward councillor, Wickwar Parish Councillor and School Governor at Horton School and St John’s Mead. A Police volunteer who is passionate about road safety.
POLLING takes place from 7am to 10pm on Thursday, May 4, with counting getting underway immediately afterwards.
For the first time, all voters will need to bring formal photo identification, such as a driving licence or passport with them to the polling station or face being turned away