With postal votes beginning to land on doormats this week, we’ve had a few questions about who is standing where – and for what council. Here’s our guide to where independents from our group are standing. To try and keep this simple, we are only looking at the various council elections here.
First of all, take a look at your poll card. There will be two letters and a number at the start of you polling number. For Bishopstoke and north Fair Oak, this will be BI1, BI2, BI3, BI4, BI5, BI6, FA1 or FA2.
- If your number starts with BI1 (Stoke Common), you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. For this ward (Stoke Common), only 2 candidates were nominated for 3 Bishopstoke Parish Council positions (independents Gin Tidridge and Anne Dean), so you will not be voting for parish councillors. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with BI2 (Riverside), you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and Bishopstoke Parish Council. For the parish council, you will be able to vote for 3 candidates. There are 2 candidates from the Independent: Bishopstoke and Fair Oak group standing for BI2 (Riverside ward): Louise Hillier-Wheal and Dave Francis. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with BI3 (Underwood), you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. For this ward (Underwood), 3 candidates were nominated for 3 Bishopstoke Parish Council positions (including independent Cllr Ray Dean), so you will not be voting for parish councillors. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with BI4 (Whalesmead), you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and Bishopstoke Parish Council. For the parish council, you will be able to vote for 3 candidates. There is 1 candidates from the Independent: Bishsoptoke and Fair Oak group standing for BI4 (Whalesmead ward): Cllr Louise Parker-Jones. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is also standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with BI5 (Itchen), you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and Bishopstoke Parish Council. For the parish council, you will be able to vote for 3 candidates. There are 2 candidates from the Independent: Bishsoptoke and Fair Oak group standing for BI5 (Itchen ward): Ralph Candy and Susan Lynch. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with BI6, you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. This ward falls under Fair Oak Parish Council, not Bishopstoke Parish Council, so you will not be voting for parish councillors. Fair Oak would have had parish council elections 2 years ago, but there were fewer candidates than positions, so no election. Independent Cllr Gin Tidridge (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for re-election to Eastleigh Borough Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of your 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council.
- If your number starts with FA1 or FA2, you will be able to vote in elections to Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. Independent Cllr Louise Parker-Jones (currently one of Bishopstoke’s 3 borough councillors) is standing for election to Hampshire County Council to represent the Bishopstoke and Fair Oak ward. For Eastleigh Borough Council, there is no candidate from the Independent: Bishopstoke and Fair Oak group. These wards fall under Fair Oak Parish Council, not Bishopstoke Parish Council, so you will not be voting for parish councillors. Fair Oak would have had parish council elections 2 years ago, but there were fewer candidates than positions, so no election.
We hope that this makes the local elections a little clearer. The ward boundaries are not always straightforward. The good news is that you will only receive the voting slips for the elections that you are able to vote in!
Please do use your vote.