Who is standing for election in Kirkby North?

All seats at Nottinghamshire County Council are up for election on Thursday, May 4.

The council is currently made of 67 councillors, across 54 divisions.

Although officially under No Overall Control, it is led by the Labour Party, who hold 32 seats, ahead of the Tories with 21. There are also five Liberal Democrat councillors, four Ashfield Independents and two Mansfield Independent Forum members and three Independents.

After the election, 66 councillors will represent 55 divisions.

Voters in Kirkby North division will elect one councillor to represent them.

Sam Ancliff (Con)

Having grown up in Kirkby, Sam returned and settled down with his wife in the town in 2015 following his service in the Armed Forces in Afghanistan. He now runs his own business locally. He remains determined to fight for what he believes in and wants to be the councillor for Kirkby North to ensure residents have a local representative with the grit and commitment to make things happen for the area. He’s frustrated our local Labour councils never seem to listen, whether they are shrinking our bins at huge cost to the taxpayer or messing up the roads in Kirkby town centre. Sam promises to hold regular surgeries and genuinely listen to residents, and as part of a new Conservative Administration at County Hall he can have more influence and win more support than a Labour Councillor could from the opposition benches.

John Ingram (LD)

I have lived in the Ashfield area for some time now and have been so grateful for the kindness shown by everyone. I am initially from London and have been upset on how our high streets have been slowly going downhill. The reason I decided to follow the Liberal Democrats, was I believe in an open and caring society. The other parties have their fixed ways of doing things and slowly but surely are morphing into the same way of messaging, and that cannot be good for anyone. The fact Kirkby is losing two banks shows the current council are not thinking of the people who voted for them, and this has to change before Kirkby becomes a ghost town. I have lived in the Ashfield area for eight years, having previously lived in North London. The main reason for being a councillor to me, is to help make my local area a better place for people to live and work in. To that end, I want to put the people first and be their voice in the county council.

Janet Jeanes (UKIP)

I am Kirkby born and bred, I am a qualified state-registers nurse, attaining the rank of ward sister, a qualified occupational nurse and a dianetics consultant. It breaks my heart to see the NHS on the verge of collapse and our welfare state crumbling in front of our eyes. I have been spurred into action by the mismanagement and neglect of the people chosen to represent us at all levels of government. We have military veterans living on the streets abandoned by the politicians who sent them into action. We have food banks, record levels of child poverty and working poor. We are becoming a society of “Haves” and “Have Nots” with the few uncaring and intolerant of it’s masses. It is time for the lives of people to come before Party politics - commonsense and common good. Don’t vote for the same old same old, vote for change – vote for UKIP.

John Knight (Lab)

John was born and educated in Ashfield and, after taking a degree in history, he worked as a senior valuer for three of London’s International auction houses. He appeared, regularly, on various TV antique programmes. He now writes about American history and is a published author specialising in the American Revolution and the Civil War. He was the leader of Ashfield District Council and has proudly represented Kirkby for more than 12 years. John has always concentrated on protecting and improving those services most needed by our children and the elderly. As the leader of Nottinghamshire’s culture and sport, he has worked with our Olympians and Paralympians, and bucked the national trend of library closures by investing in and modernising Nottinghamshire’s libraries. He is a trustee of several Kirkby charities including Our Centre and Kirkby Cats Home. He is an animal lover and season ticket holder with Notts County FC.

Key

Con – The Conservative Party;

Lab – The Labour Party;

LD – Liberal Democrats;

UKIP – UK Independence Party.