Labour reveals Cotswold election candidates

Five members will be standing for positions in Cirencester.

Terry Pomroy is standing for St Michaels, Will Downes-Hall is standing for Watermoor, Alan Mackenzie is standing for Abbey Ward, Richard Guilding is standing for Four Acres and Gunther Strait is standing for Stratton.

Six more members will be standing for positions across the Cotswolds.

Sian Smith is standing for Kemble, Trevor Smith for Fairford, Kempsford and Fairford South, Simon Cohen for Moreton East, Ian Pillinger for Sandywell, North Cotswolds, Ed Shelton for Grumbolds Ash with Avening Ward, and Jonathan Easterbrook for Tetbury with Upton.

Who are the candidates?

Terry Pomroy - St. Michaels Ward Cirencester

Terry has lived in Cirencester for nine years, worked for Rolls-Royce for 26 years and then in a hospital for the long term ill.

He has been a town councillor for 18 years and a South Gloucestershire Councillor for eight years.

He helped to set up the Julian trust in Bristol, a night shelter for the homeless and has been involved with the food bank in Cirencester.

If elected he has said he will hold two surgery’s a month plus street surgery’s.

Will Downes-Hall - Watermoor Ward Cirencester

Will, as one of the youngest candidates for election, is a fourth generation Watermoorian, and feels it is his duty to ensure Watermoor is the best it can be.

He wants to give a voice to those who he says have been ignored for far too long and to rectify the problems he says are caused by ignorance and underfunding.

Will says he cares passionately about the future of his town and the people he represents.

Will also says he promises to put an end to the 'Groundhog Day' that he says our council has become.

Alan Mackenzie - Abbey Ward Cirencester

Chair of the central branch of the Cotswolds Labour Party, Alan has worked as part of a neighbourhood policing team for the British transport police in West London for eight years, working with multiple agencies, which allowed him insight into many of the problems people face on a daily basis.

Alan is fully supportive of the youth movement on climate change and is keen to push for more environmentally friendly ways of working which goes along with his love and passion for the countryside and wildlife.

He is keen to see an end to all forms of animal cruelty.

Alan understand the need for towns to expand but they need to be in balance with current infrastructure and must work for the environment.

He believes the Chesterton development does not do this.

If elected he says he will work tirelessly to ensure he represents all those in his ward and in the best interests of the town.

Richard Guilding - Four Acres Ward Cirencester

Richard is secretary of the central branch of the Cotswolds Labour Party.

He was born in Painswick, Gloucestershire and has lived most of his life in this county and in Cirencester for six years.

He worked in the NHS for 36 years and is passionate about campaigning to reverse Government cuts, creeping privatization of the NHS and the cuts to Cirencester hospital.

He is a keen environmentalist and concerned about the impact the Chesterton housing development will have on the local environment.

He says we need extra housing especially affordable places that local young people can buy or rent.

However, he considers 2300 extra houses to be out of proportion to the size of Cirencester.

Parking in Cirencester is an issue that Richard believes could be tackled by improving local public transport and cycle lanes, rather than the present proposal for building a multi-storey car park.

His interests include classic British motorcycles and gardening.

Gunther Strait - Stratton Ward Cirencester

Gunther is a software engineer and system architect.

He has been vice chair for fundraising in the North Swindon Constituency Labour Party.

He fully supports the ethics, politics and visions of Jeremy Corbyn and our Labour Shadow Cabinet.

His main aim is to facilitate more democratic involvement of the wishes and requests of ALL Stratton residents.

To this end he will send out news letters to residents and hold surgery’s on a regular basis.

Sian Smith - Kemble Ward

Sian has lived near Somerford Keynes, Gloucestershire for 16 years.

A social worker and a mother of two daughters she grew up in rural West Wales, in a strong farming community.

The Cotswolds is in many ways a home from home.

She has a firm belief in the power of communities to determine their own future.

She says she knows how young people today face a shrinking jobs market and a future crippled by student debt.

Living locally she says she can see how 'the Conservative policy has impacted on housing decisions, local hospital and community police services, public transport, footpaths and parking'.

She said decisions seem to be made for the few and believes it is time to work for change.

Trevor Smith - Lechlade, Kempsford and Fairford South Ward

Trevor has lived locally in Kempsford for over 16 years and his two daughters attended Kempsford Primary School and Farmors School in Fairford.

He has worked his entire career in Telecommunications and has had a considerable involvement in promoting Superfast Broadband to rural communities.

He will direct efforts to protect our local health service, do more for supporting and caring for the elderly and promote greater opportunities for the young in work and education.

Trevor says 'he will work tirelessly to stop the damaging cuts being pursued by this Government'.

Simon Cohen - Moreton East

Simon worked for twenty years as a music teacher in state secondary schools working in youth theatre in the UK and abroad. .

He believes our present system has reached a crisis point and is damaging the fabric of our society at a time when Climate Change, environmental degradation, ageing populations as well as debt and stress are major issues.

He is an active volunteer in the community including Age UK where he leads a choir based in Chesterton, Cirencester and in his home village of Andoversford where he runs a community choir.

He will be giving a talk on 'Why We Need a Change of Economic ideology-Now' in Andoversford Village Hall on Wednesday, April 24 at 7.30pm.

Ian Pillinger - Sandywell Ward

Ian was born and grew up in London and studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Exeter.

He obtained a PhD at the University of Birmingham.

He subsequently became a lecturer in the manufacturing and mechanical engineering department, where he continued to do research.

Ian left the University of Birmingham in 2004 to become a freelance consulting engineer specialising in industrial metal forming processes.

He has lived in the same Cotswold village for 35 years and enjoys walking dogs, cooking, listening to music and playing around with computers (but not all at the same time).

Ed Shelton - Grumbolds Ash with Avening Ward

Dr Ed Shelton grew up in north Devon.

He was educated at a comprehensive school in Barnstaple, then studied materials science at the University of Oxford followed by research for a PhD at the University of Birmingham.

He lived in Farnborough, Hampshire for fourteen years, working as a research and development scientist for an aerospace and defence technology company.

Among many other R&D activities, he contributed to the development of an award-winning manufacturing process for Airbus A380 aircraft wings, and design of an engine monitoring system for trials on Royal Navy frigates.

Ed moved to Didmarton in 2013.

He is a chartered engineer now working as a consultant for the energy industry.

This work includes the design of new offshore wind farms and supporting the continuing safe operation of the UK’s nuclear power stations.

Ed is also a keen amateur musician, playing the viola in an orchestra and singing in a community choir which supports a range of local arts and social events in the area.

Elections to Cotswold District Council will take place on Thursday, May 2.

There are 34 councillors to be elected across 32 wards.

Elections for parish and town councils in the district will also take place on the same day, with more than 600 seats to be decided.

Fore more information, go to cotswold.gov.uk