Local election candidate list and voting guide for Preston

Eighty-three candidates will battle it out for places on Preston City Council at the local elections next month.

The full list of politicians who will be vying for votes has been published ahead of the poll taking place on 7th May.

Sixteen of the authority’s 48 seats are up for grabs – one in each ward.

The majority of the contests will be five-way tussles between the ruling Labour group, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, Reform UK and the Green Party – all of whom are fielding candidates across the board.

Two independents and a representative of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition are also standing.

It is due to be the final set of elections for Preston City Council ahead of the authority’s scheduled abolition in 2028.

As part of a government-ordered shake-up, all 15 of Lancashire’s main local authorities are to be scrapped. Councils like Preston will be subsumed into a smaller number of yet-to-be-determined new authorities covering much larger areas.

That forthcoming overhaul raised the prospect of this year’s election for Preston City Council being cancelled ahead of a planned poll next year for a ‘shadow’ version of the authority that will replace it in two years’ time.

However, a government U-turn on the issue in February means voting will now go ahead in the city as originally planned. 

Who can I vote for in the Preston City Council elections 2026? 

These are all the candidates standing in each of Preston City Council’s 16 wards (an asterisk denotes an incumbent councillor in that ward):

Ashton
RACHEL GILL – Green Party
RONAN HODGSON* – Liberal Democrats 
ANDREW DAVID MACLAREN – Labour Party 
KEITH SEDGEWICK – Conservative Party
LEE SLATER – Reform UK

Brookfield
MEL CLOSE* – Labour Party 
DANIEL DUCKWORTH – Conservative Party 
REBECCA POTTER – Liberal Democrats 
ROB WALSH – Reform UK 
ROBIN STEWART WESTON – Green Party

Cadley
FLO EMMANUEL – Reform UK 
DANIEL GREGG* – Liberal Democrats 
JONO GRISDALE – Green Party
ISAAC OLUWASUJI OMOPARIOLA – Labour Party 
LAKWINDER SINGH – Conservative Party 

City Centre
TINA BALMER – Green Party
LORENZO MORE – Reform UK 
ANDY PRATT – Conservative Party
MARK FRANCIS ROUTLEDGE – Labour Party
SAM ZHANG-PEAK – Liberal Democrats

Deepdale 
NATHALIE CAIN – Liberal Democrats
ZAFAR COUPLAND* – Labour Party
JOHN KNIGHT – Reform UK 
NIGEL ANTONY LISTER – Conservative Party
KEVIN DAVID RIGOTTI – Green Party

Fishwick and Frenchwood
STEPHEN GREGSON – Reform UK
ASH JARIWALA – Conservative Party
JOANNE JOYNER – Liberal Democrats 
CHRISTOPHER SOAMES – Green Party 
VALERIE WISE* – Labour and Co-operative Party

Garrison
AMBER AFZAL* – Labour Party
ARAN BAILEY – Independent
CLAIRE CRAVEN – Liberal Democrats
HELEN DISLEY – Green Party
SIMON HOLMES – Reform UK
AL-YASA KHAN – Conservative Party

Greyfriars
JOANNE AFRIN BLACK – Labour Party
ANDREW CRAIG BIELAS-BARNES – Conservative Party
JACOB BILSBORROW – Green Party
SIMON CROWE – Reform UK
FIONA DUKE* – Liberal Democrats

Ingol and Cottam
DEREK BARTON – Labour Party
NEIL DARBY* – Liberal Democrats
SARAH JANE HART – Conservative Party
DAVID PRESTON – Reform UK
TOBY WORTH – Green Party

Lea and Larches
BILL ADAMS – Labour Party
KEITH BERRY – Green Party
SEAN LITTLE* – Liberal Democrats
JAVARIS MAHARAJ – Conservative Party
JEMMA LOUISE RUSHE – Reform UK

Plungington
PAV AKHTAR* – Labour Party
SUSAN TRACEY BROWN – Reform UK
PENELOPE DAWBER – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
FRANKIE KENNEDY – Conservative Party
GABIE LOWE – Green Party
RUTH VAN MIERLO – Liberal Democrats

Preston Rural East
KAREN KENDALL – Green Party
BETH MOORE – Labour Party
DANIEL NUTTALL – Reform UK
STEVE WHITTAM* – Conservative Party
LIAM YIP – Liberal Democrats

Preston Rural North
DANIEL BENNETT – Green Party
LYNNE BROOKS – Labour Party
STEPHEN GEOFFREY THOMPSON* – Reform UK
RENE VAN MIERLO – Liberal Democrats 
FAY ELIZABETH WHITTAM – Conservative Party

Ribbleton
VASILE ALECU – Reform UK
EDWARD CRAVEN – Liberal Democrats
MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER MCGOWAN – Labour Party
TES SLATER – Conservative Party
DANIEL THOMPSON – Green Party

Sharoe Green
MAXWELL GREEN* – Conservative Party
BRIAN MARTIN OLLERTON – Reform UK
RICK SEYMOUR – Labour Party
JACK SINGH – Liberal Democrats
AMY STRETTLE – Green Party

St. Matthew’s
WAQAS AHMED – Independent
TAKHSIN AKHTAR – Labour Party
GARETH BASTERFIELD – Green Party
CHARLIE CRAIG FITZPATRICK – Reform UK
TAYO KOREDE – Conservative Party
ANITA MURRAY – Liberal Democrats

Source: Preston City Council

How do I vote?

The polls will be open on Thursday 7th May from 7am until 10pm – and voters must take an approved form of photo ID with them in order to cast their ballot in person (see full list below).

Anybody not currently on the electoral roll must ensure they register to vote – the deadline for which is 20th April.

Voting by post is also an option. Applications for a postal vote must be received by 5pm on 21st April and ballot papers must arrive at Preston Town Hall by polling day. If it gets too late to post your vote back, you can take it to your local polling station on the day of the election, up until 10pm.

Proxy votes can be obtained if you cannot attend the polling station in person – meaning someone else can vote on your behalf. Applications for a proxy vote must be received by 28th April at 5pm.

However, you can apply for an emergency proxy vote if you discover only after that deadline that you will be unable vote in person, including for medical or employment reasons. In such instances, you can apply for a proxy vote until 5pm on election day itself.

What do I need to vote?

To vote in person at a polling station, you will need one of the following forms of photo identification (the ID is permitted to be out of date, but must still be a good likeness of you, and it must be the original, not a photocopy):

passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country; 
photo driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state; 
voter authority certificate (deadline to apply: 5pm, 28th April); 
a blue badge; 
older person’s bus pass; 
disabled person’s bus pass; 
Oyster 60+ Card; 
Freedom Pass; 
identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card); 
biometric immigration document, including eVisas; 
Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card) and Form 100 (HM Armed Forces Veterans Card); 
national identity card issued by an EEA state; 
anonymous elector’s document; 
digital ID – Veterans’ Card (new for 2026); 
digital ID – E-visa (new for 2026).