Who is standing for election in North Mansfield?

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 North Mansfield will elect two councillors to represent them. We asked them all to submit some details about themselves in the run up to voters going to the polls.

Joyce Bosnjak (Lab)

Joyce has been a county councillor since 1993. She has held numerous roles and responsibilities at County Hall within that time and is currently deputy leader and chairman of the Nottinghamshire Health and Wellbeing Board. While her work at County Hall takes up a good deal of her time, Joyce remains actively engaged in the local community she represents. She values greatly the contribution of volunteers and is highly supportive of local initiatives and projects across all age groups, believing some of the best ideas come from communities themselves. She is firmly committed to helping to reduce anti-social behaviour, protecting the environment and the areas heritage saying: “We should not underestimate the impact the environment has on our sense of wellbeing.” She considers it a privilege to have served in Mansfield North.

Raymond Forster (UKIP)

Raymond spent his childhood in Warsop Vale and attended Meden School. He is happily married and is employed in Mansfield at a specialised glazing company. He will ensure our green spaces, parks, sporting areas and trees are protected. Elderly care will be prioritised if elected as a councillor and he will aim to enable as much independent living as possible. Nottinghamshire County Council works for the people and as a UKIP councillor he pledges to represent local people with common sense ideas, rather than toeing the party line. He recognises communities suffer from an unacceptable level of crime and anti-social behaviour and is committed to free up the police from excessive form-filling and tackle nuisance neighbours and anti-social behaviour. Raymond will stand up for local decision-making and fight proposals like unwanted housing developments and out-of-town supermarkets that are killing off small shops and businesses.

David Hamilton (UKIP)

David is the UKIP Mansfield vice-chairman and has contested several local and county elections. He is a self-employed gas engineer, his office base and the majority of his customers are located in Mansfield. He believes council taxes should go down, not up, especially when times are tough and people are finding it hard to make ends meet. David points out that some county council executives in the Country are earning more than the Prime Minister. Rising councillors’ expenses, unnecessary departments doing politically-correct things like diversity monitoring; these are where we will make cuts, not at the front line or among the low-paid dedicated staff we respect. He believes it is time to bring power back to the people. On the petition of 5 per cent of the local population, major planning and service provision decisions should be put to a local vote.

Daniel Redfern (Con)

Born and raised in Mansfield Woodhouse, Daniel is the son of a former coal miner and has broad knowledge of our local area. Daniel is passionate about improving life for all residents wants to focus on a number of key issues including fixing our poor quality roads and pavements, working to boost jobs and employment, and tackling low-level crime like litter and anti-social behaviour that can make life harder for the people in our community. He previously stood for the Yeoman Hill ward on Mansfield District Council in a by-election in 2016 and wants to inject some fresh thinking in to our local council.

Karen Seymour (TUSC)

I’m a welfare rights worker in Shirebrook. Most of the people who use food banks are low-paid workers and people who can’t work, but get sanctioned by the Department of Work and Pensions. This is absolutely disgraceful. I’ve campaigned for trade union rights at Sports Direct - against the Victorian working conditions that have made Mike Ashley so rich. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition fights for a £10 per hour minimum wage. As a councillor I would oppose council contracts to any companies exploiting their workers with zero-hour contracts and poverty pay. The council should use its reserves and borrowing powers to stop all cuts this year, building a mass campaign and linking with other councils to force the government to give the money Nottinghamshire needs to provide decent services. No council tax increase – make the super-rich and corporations pay their taxes instead.

Clive Trussel (LD)

Parry Tsimbiridis (Lab)

Parry has lived in Mansfield for more than 50 years is very much a family man, he is happily married with daughters and grandchildren who he loves spending time with. Parry has been a member of the Labour Party for more than 40 years and a county councillor since 1993. He takes the responsibilities of his role as county councillor very seriously, he wants the very best for the community he serves, as he knows they deserve the very best. He represents the views of his community and understands their concerns. He believes in quality local services and always campaigns for additional investment locally and for the services for people who really need them. Parry would like to continue to make a significant contribution to the residents of Mansfield North by addressing issues concerning local people including highways, social services, education, reducing anti-social behaviour and protecting the environment.

Key:

Con – The Conservative Party;

Lab - The Labour Party;

LD - Liberal Democrats;

TUSC – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition;

UKIP – UK Independence Party.