Fife Council candidate election list revealed

A total of 75 councillors will be elected across 22 ward areas throughout the Kingdom on May 5, and there promises to be some closely-run contests the length and breadth of the region.

Indeed, a packed field of 179 candidates of all political persuasions has been confirmed after the deadline for completed applications came and went on Wednesday evening.

Fife Council has been under a joint SNP/Labour administration since 2017, when the SNP replaced Scottish Labour as the largest party for the first time in the region but did not gain enough seats to form a majority.

The Scottish Conservatives also replaced the Scottish Liberal Democrats as the third biggest party, while no independent councillors were returned for the first time ever.

While many familiar faces have decided to either not run again or retire ahead of the 2022 poll, Fife Council co-leaders David Ross and David Alexander are seeking re-election in ward 10 and ward 21 respectively, while Provost Jim Leishman is standing again for Labour in ward three.

Conservative group leader Dave Dempsey is standing once more in ward 6, although current Lib Dem group leader Tim Brett is not seeking re-election in north east Fife.

Meanwhile, the Greens have someone standing in all but one of the ward areas.

Away from the more mainstream parties, the Scottish Family Party – which has a pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family stance – is fielding candidates in 14 of the region’s 22 wards, while the Alba Party for Independence has 11 candidates.

Voting will take place between 7am and 10pm on Thursday, May 5, but the count itself will begin at 8.30am on Friday, May 6, in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes.

List of candidates for Fife Council elections on May 5:

Ward 1 – West Fife and Coastal Villages

Jo Cockburn (Lib Dems), Graeme Downie (Lab), William Gavin (Alba), Martin Keatings (Ind), Craig McCutcheon (Greens), Jacqueline McKenna (Lab), Danny Smith (Scottish Family Party), Sam Steele (SNP), Katie Strang (SNP), Conner Young (Cons).

Ward 2 – Dunfermline North

Auxi Barrera (SNP), Dave Edler (Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition), Gavin Ellis (Cons), Mags Hall (Greens), Caroline McIlwraith (Lib Dems), Craig McIvor (SNP), Gordon Pryde (Lab), Karen Smith (Scottish Family Party).

Ward 3 – Dunfermline Central

Aude Boubaker-Calder (Lib Dems), Lewis Campbell (Greens), Derek Glen (SNP), Garry Haldane (Lab), Jean Hall Muir (SNP), Jim Leishman (Lab), Malcolm MacAulay (Cons), Gary Pratt (Scottish Family Party), Leanne Tervit (Alba).

Ward 4 – Dunfermline South

Naz Anis-Miah (SNP), Lynn Ballantyne Wardlow (SNP), James Calder (Lib Dems), Tom Freeman (Greens), Cara Hilton (Lab), Paul Lynch (Scottish Family Party), Ross Paterson (Lab), David Ross (Cons), Rob Thompson (Alba), Martin Willcocks (Ind).

Ward 5 – Rosyth

Brian Goodall (SNP), Andy Jackson (SNP), Teresa Little (Lib Dems), Stephen Lynas (Alba), Alastair MacIntyre (Scottish Family Party), Fiona McOwan (Greens), George Morton (Scottish Libertarian Party), Grant Thomson (Cons), Andrew Verrecchia (Lab).

Ward 6 – Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay

David Barratt (SNP), Ryan Blackadder (Greens), Patrick Browne (Lab), Dave Coleman (Cons), Sarah Ann Davis (Scottish Family Party), Dave Dempsey (Cons), Callum Hawthorne (Lib Dems), Sarah Neal (SNP).

Ward 7 – Cowdenbeath

Alie Bain (SNP), Jacqueline Bijster (Alba), Alex Campbell (Lab), Helen Greig (Scottish Family Party), Gary Guichan (Lab), Alyssa Lee (Greens), Bailey-Lee Robb (SNP), Peter Venturi (Lib Dems), Darren Watt (Cons).

Ward 8 – Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty

Anil Alexander (Scottish Family Party), Mary Bain-Lockhart (Lab), Linda Erskine (Lab), Margaret Fairgrieve (Cons), Rosemary Liewald (SNP), Lea McLelland (SNP), Russel McPhate (Lib Dems), Danny Oswald (Greens).

Ward 9 – Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy

Lesley Backhouse (SNP), Andrew Bentley-Steed (Independence for Scotland), Garry Downie (Scottish Family Party), Colin Fraser (Alba), Kathleen Leslie (Cons), Claire Luxford (Greens), Julie MacDougall (Lab), Anne O’Brien (Lib Dems), Olaf Stando (SNP).

Ward 10 – Kirkcaldy North

Michael Collie (Greens), Craig Dempsey (Alba), Gerald Haddrell (UKIP), James Leslie (Cons), Carol Lindsay (SNP), David Ross (Lab), Ryan Smart (Lab), Sally Walsh (SNP).

Ward 11 – Kirkcaldy Central

Blair Allan (SNP), Alistair Cameron (Lab), James Duncan (Cons), Judy Hamilton (Lab), Zoe Hisbent (SNP), Tao MacLeod (Greens), Karen Utting (Lib Dems).

Ward 12 – Kirkcaldy East

Ian Cameron (Lab), Rod Cavanagh (SNP), David Hansen (Greens), George MacDonald (Lab), Walter Neilson (Sovereignty), Nicola Patrick (SNP), Wink Thompson (Lib Dems), Richard Watt (Cons).

Ward 13 – Glenrothes West and Kinglassie

Altany Craik (Lab), David Croll (Cons), Julie Ford (SNP), Ian Robertson (Ind), Keith Smith (Lib Dems), Craig Walker (SNP).

Ward 14 – Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch

John Beare (SNP), Frances Bennie (Lib Dems), George Carratt (Scottish Family Party), Bryce Goodall (Greens), Peter Gulline (Cons), Afifa Khanam (Lab), Lynn Mowatt (SNP), Jan Wincott (Lab).

Ward 15 – Glenrothes Central and Thornton

Jim Bryce (Alba), Heather Gulline (Cons), Jane Kerr (Lib Dems), Derek Noble (Lab), Morven Ovenstone-Jones (Greens), Steve Saunders (Scottish Family Party), Ross Vettraino (SNP), Daniel Wilson (SNP).

Ward 16 – Howe of Fife and Tay Coast

Jackie Anderson (Alba), Alan Brown (Scottish Family Party), Andy Heer (Cons), Gary Holt (Lib Dems), Malcolm Jack (Greens), Donald Lothian (Lib Dems), David MacDiarmid (SNP).

Ward 17 – Tay Bridgehead

Keith Barton (Cons), Sean Elder (Ind), Louise Kennedy-Dalby (SNP), Allan Knox (Lib Dems), Colin Palmer (Greens), Steven Simpson (Alba), Jonny Tepp (Lib Dems), Philip Thompson (Lab).

Ward 18 – St Andrews

Al Clark (Lib Dems), Fergus Cook (Greens), Rosalind Garton (Lab), Robin Lawson (Cons), Jane Ann Liston (Lib Dems), Ann Verner (SNP).

Ward 19 – East Neuk and Landward

Fiona Corps (Lib Dems), Sean Dillon (Lib Dems), John Docherty (Ind), Alycia Hayes (SNP), Linda Holt (Ind), Stuart Irwin (Lab), Debbie MacCallum (Cons), David Stutchfield (Greens).

Ward 20 – Cupar

Donald Adey (Ind), Sylvia Brown (Scottish Family Party), John Caffrey (Lib Dems), Wendy Haynes (Lab), Stefan Hoggan-Radu (SNP), Robert Hughes-Jones (Greens), Margaret Kennedy (Lib Dems), Tony Miklinski (Cons), Gordon Pay (Ind).

Ward 21 – Leven, Kennoway and Largo

David Alexander (SNP), Eugene Clarke (Lib Dems), Colin Davidson (Lab), Iain Morrice (Greens), Graham Ritchie (Cons), Davina Saunders (Scottish Family Party), Alistair Suttie (SNP), Jacob Winton (Lab).

Ward 22 – Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss villages

Tom Adams (Lab), Celyn Ashworth (Lib Dems), Susan Blair (Alba), Ken Caldwell (SNP), David Graham (Lab), Brian Mills (Cons), John O’Brien (SNP), Jerome Van Leeuwen (Greens).