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Supporting Content

• County council elections: 30 seconds with ...

  Hear from a spokesperson from each party represented on Somerset County Council since 2013

  Duration: 2:12

• County council elections: Why stand?

  Candidates are standing for election to Somerset County Council on Thursday 4 May

  Duration: 1:12

• County council elections: The lowest turnout in Somerset in 2013

  16% of eligible people voted in part of Bridgwater in the last county council elections

  Duration: 3:40

• County council elections: Profile

  Ruth Bradley looks at some of the issues ahead of polling day

  Duration: 1:15
  See all clips

• The Elections

  Somerset County Council is currently led by the Conservative party which has 31 elected members. The Liberal Democrats are in opposition with 14 councillors. Currently there are 4 Independent councillors, and Labour and UKIP have 3 each. All 55 places on the council are up for election on Thursday 4 May. Our Politics Reporter Ruth Bradley has profiled each party fielding candidates in the county council elections below.

  There’s also an election to the West of England Metro Mayor role on the same day. You can find more information about this election at the bottom of this page.

• County council elections - Candidates

  You can find a full list of candidates standing in the Somerset County Council elections via the council's .

• County council elections - Conservatives

  There are 55 Tory candidates standing, a full slate. They’ll be looking to hold on to places like Ilminster, where they were just 11 votes ahead of UKIP in the last election in 2013, and North Petherton, where they won by 20 votes from the Liberal Democrats. And trying to gain marginal seats like Martock and Bishops Hull from the Lib Dems too, especially as their incumbents are retiring. The Conservative manifesto called ‘Our Clear Plan for Somerset’ promises low council tax, £30m for social services, a new university for Somerset, and supporting mortgages for local people to buy homes.

• County council elections - Green Party

  The Green Party has 32 candidates standing in the county council elections. They’re particularly focusing on places like Frome, Glastonbury and Langport where they have town councillors already. The Greens are campaigning under four themes: health and social care, ‘standing up for Somerset’ devolution of powers to Somerset from Westminster, and increased scrutiny of local government.

• County council elections - Labour

  51 people are standing for the Labour party, or Labour and Co-operative Party, in Somerset. It’s looking to maintain its traditional foothold in Bridgwater, where 2 of its 3 current councillors are elected. Yeovil and Wellington are other areas of interest for Labour. It’s manifesto promises  to lobby government for funding for rural services like digital and mobile networks; to look at building affordable housing on county council land; and to work towards a fully integrated health and social care system where the NHS and council pool their budgets.

• County council elections - Liberal Democrats

  The council’s current opposition party, the Lib Dems have 55 candidates standing, so in every division. They’ll be looking to win back seats in Yeovil and Chard which they lost to UKIP in 2013 - Yeovil Central by just 17 votes. Wells is also an interesting division, currently held by the Conservative council leader John Osman, but his Lib Dem rival this time is former local MP Tessa Munt.  The party’s manifesto ‘Somerset solutions to Somerset problems’ promises to find £10m by cutting waste at County Hall, prioritising preventative services for children and adults, recruiting more in-house foster carers and social workers, and investing £25m a year in highways.

• County council elections - UK Independence Party

  UKIP have gone from fielding 48 candidates at the last county council elections in 2013, to 23 candidates this time. Their 3 current councillors are all standing again, in Chard, Minehead and Yeovil. Also notable is UKIP’s County Chair Helen Hims standing in Cheddar, where the incumbent Conservative, Dawn Hill, is retiring. UKIP have an England-wide local election manifesto which looks at the party’s ambitions for councils generally, including housing, education, democracy, transport and social care. UKIP also opposes devolution.

• County council elections - Independents

  There are 13 candidates standing as Independents. The 4 current Independent councillors are all standing for re-election along with new faces like parish councillor John Hunt in Bishop’s Hull and Taunton West, and local newspaper editor Andrew Lee in Curry Rivel and Langport. While in Upper Tone, library campaigner and district councillor Steve Ross hopes it will be third time lucky for him as he challenges the Conservatives once again, with as few as 11 votes between them in the past.

• Metro Mayor election

  The Metro Mayor role will cover the Bath and North East Somerset council area, as well as Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

  The £62,000 salaried post is part of government efforts to devolve more power to the regions over key issues such as planning and roads.

  The candidates are:

  • - Conservatives
  • - UK Independence Party
  • - Green Party
  • - Labour and Co-operative Party
  • - Independent
  • - Liberal Democrats.