More than a tenth of the councillors on Bath & North East Somerset Council are currently campaigning to become Members of Parliament.
Seven of the 59 councillors on the council are standing in the general election on 4th July.
Three of them are all standing against each other, while others are standing in constituencies as far away as Swindon and Wales.
Robin Moss, Gavin Heathcote, and Shaun Hughes are all standing for the Frome and East Somerset constituency.
The three councillors all represent wards within the constituency, which includes much of the eastern half of the former North East Somerset seat.
Mr Moss, who leads the opposition Labour group on the council, is the Labour Party candidate for the seat.
He previously stood in North East Somerset in 2017 as the Labour challenger to Jacob Rees-Mogg, coming second with 35% of the vote, to Sir Jacob’s 54%. But since the boundary changes, his Westfield council seat now lies in Frome and East Somerset.
Mr Hughes, an Independent councillor for Midsomer Norton North, also stood in North East Somerset in 2017 and did again in 2019, coming last with about 1% of the vote both times.
Meanwhile, it is fellow Independent councillor Mr Heathcote’s first time running for Parliament since being elected onto Bath & North East Somerset Council as councillor for Peasedown last year.
Meanwhile, Colin Blackburn, who has been a councillor for Westmoreland in Bath since 2015, has thrown his hat into the ring to become Bath’s next MP.
He is also an Independent, meaning that half of the six Independents on the council are running for Parliament.
In North East Somerset and Hanham, the Liberal Democrat candidate is former council leader, previous Mayor of Bath, and, for 21 years, councillor for Southdown in Bath, Dine Romero.
Meanwhile, two other Liberal Democrat councillors are standing further afield.
Matt McCabe, councillor for Bathavon South, is standing as the potential MP for Swindon South (candidate list available here), and Manda Rigby, councillor for Bathwick, is standing for Cardiff West (candidate list available here).
The full list of candidates standing for the Bath constituency is:
- A.N.ON. (Independent)
- Bill Blockhead (Independent)
- Colin Blackburn (Independent)
- Dan Bewley (Labour)
- Dominic Tristram (Green)
- James Wright (Conservative)
- Matthew Alford (Workers Party)
- Teresa Hall (Reform UK)
- Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat)
The full list of candidates standing for the Frome and East Somerset constituency is:
- Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat)
- David Swain (Reform UK)
- Gavin Heathcote (Independent)
- Lucy Trimnell (Conservative)
- Martin Dimery (Green)
- Robin Moss (Labour)
- Shaun Hughes (Independent)
The full list of candidates standing for the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency is:
- Barmy Brunch (Monster Raving Loony Party)
- Dan Norris (Labour)
- Dine Romero (Liberal Democrat)
- Edmund Cannon (Green)
- Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative)
- Nicholas Hales (Independent)
- Paul MacDonnell (Reform UK)
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
