ALL but two of the 16 wards in Thurrock where elections for Thurrock Council will take place next month will be contested by just two candidates in what amounts to a straight shoot out between Conservatives and Labour across the borough.

Unless there is a landslide to Labour, who would need to unseat some established Conservative candidates for it to happen, it is likely that the current Tory administration will continue after the elections on Thursday, 5 May.

The two seats where there will be three candidates are in Stanford East and Corringham Town and in Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park.

In Stanford Ross Byrne, the son of independent group leader Gary Byrne, will be hoping to strengthen his dad's group of three councillors. To do so he would need to unseat current Conservative councillor Alex Anderson and also see off the challenge of Labour's John Cecil.

The other three-sided fight is in Tilbury and Thurrock Park where former UKIP and Independent Group councillor John Allen is bidding for a return to the council benches, standing as an independent. The incumbent councillor hoping to retain her seat is Labour's Bukky Okunde while the Conservatives are represented by Ali Jordan.

As well as Ross Byrne, another would-be councillor hoping to make it a father and son partnership in the council chamber is George Coxshall, son of leading Conservative cabinet member Mark Coxshall. Mr Coxshall junior is hoping to win a seat in the Belhus ward.

It was last won by Labour's Mike Fletcher who has stood down and his replacement Labour candidate is Mark Hurrell.

There will be an interesting contest in West Thurrock and South Stifford where the sitting councillor Qaisar Abbas is standing for re-election as a Conservative candidate. He won the seat for Labour in 2018 but just a few weeks ago, after expressing his desire to stand for Labour again but losing a local selection process, he defected to the Tories and will now be standing against his replacement Labour candidate Dave Harris.

Another contest featuring a candidate who has crossed the floor from Labour to Conservative will take place in South Stifford where Abbie Akinbohun was elected for Labour but swapped sides in January 2020. She stands this time for the Tories and will come up against current borough Mayor Cllr Sue Shinnick who has stood down from her Ockendon seat to challenge her former party colleague at the polls.

Elections will take place in 16 local wards: Aveley & Uplands, Belhus, Chadwell St Mary, Grays Riverside, Grays Thurrock, Little Thurrock Blackshots, Little Thurrock Rectory, Ockendon, Orsett, South Chafford, Stanford East & Corringham Town, Stifford Clays, The Homesteads, Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park, Tilbury St Chads and West Thurrock & South Stifford.

The full list of candidates by ward:

*Sitting councillors

Aveley and Uplands

• David Day* (Conservative)
• Panjala Srikanth (Labour)

Belhus

• George Curtis Coxshall (Conservative)
• Mark Hurrell (Labour)

Chadwell St Mary

• Gavin Holland (Conservative)
• Sara Muldowney* (Labour)

Grays Riverside

• Martin Kerin* (Labour)
• Obi Obi-Njoku (Conservative)

Grays Thurrock

• Joanne Swash (Conservative)
• Lynn Worrall* (Labour)

Little Thurrock Blackshots

• Clifford John Holloway (Labour)
• Ben Maney* (Conservative)

Little Thurrock Rectory

• Robert Gledhill* (Conservative)
• Aaron James Green (Labour)

Ockendon

• Paul Arnold (Conservative)
• Ruth Clapham (Labour)

Orsett

• Barry Johnson* (Conservative)
• Gary Watson (Labour)

South Chafford

• Abbie Akinbohun* (Conservative - previously elected as Labour)
• Sue Shinnick (Labour)

Stanford East & Corringham Town

• Alex Anderson* (Conservative)
• Ross James Byrne (Thurrock Independents)
• John Cecil (Labour)

Stifford Clays

• Mark Hooper (Labour)
• Elizabeth Rigby * (Conservative)

The Homesteads

• Jacqueline Dobson (Labour)
• James Halden* (Conservative)

Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park

• Jordan Ali (Conservative)
• John Arthur Allen (Independent)
• Bukky Okunade* (Labour)

Tilbury St Chads

• Steve Liddiard* (Labour)
• David Morgan (Conservative)

West Thurrock and South Stifford

• Qaisar Abbas* (Conservative - previously elected as Labour)
• Dave Harris (Labour)