Rother Council

Elections are fought quietly in towns and villages without the passion of big city campaigns.

But the electors care fiercely for their surroundings and demand their councillors fight for this corner of Sussex, which includes the highest number of pensioners in the country.

Rother has not succumbed to New Labour under Tony Blair and has remained staunchly Tory at local and national elections.

It is the Liberal Democrats who provide most opposition.

Conservatives are fighting all of the 38 seats. Rother has lost seven seats in the revision of local election boundaries, which has taken place since the full council was last up for election in 1999.

Not all 38 seats will be up for election on May 1. The death of Liberal Democrat candidate Julian Emery after his nomination papers were accepted means the election in the two-seat Rother Levels ward has been postponed until June 12.

A total of 81 candidates will be contesting the 37 seats with the Liberal Democrats putting forward 32 candidates and Labour 12, with three independents standing.

The composition of the new council will not be known until Friday, May 2, as the rural wards will not be counted until the afternoon.

The Bexhill wards will be counted on the Thursday night with the countryside wards the next day.

The slimming down of Rother District Council means Peter Jones, the Tory leader of East Sussex County Council and husband of Beckenham Tory MP Jacqui Lait, is standing down in Rye.

Councillor Jones is going to concentrate on running the county council.

Also standing down is Stephen Hardy, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group who will cease to represent Bodiam and Ewhurst. This ward becomes Ewhurst and Sedlescombe.

Coun Jones is pleased that one of his legacies from his time as a district councillor is helping the community of Rye get its long awaited swimming pool.

Conservatives tightened their grip on the council at the 1999 election, taking seats from the Liberal Democrats. The old 45-seat council ended its life with 28 Conservatives, three Labour, eight Liberal Democrats and four Independents.

The Labour stronghold in Rother is in the Sidley ward, where husband and wife team Keith and Helen Bridger are defending their seats.

Labour is also expected to do well in the Bexhill Old Town ward and the St Stephens ward.

The prospect of an expanded landfill site or an incinerator being constructed on the outskirts of Sidley is stiffening the resolve of the Sidley community.

All candidates fighting this ward, Conservatives Irena Massarella and Robert Wheeler and the Liberal Democrat Mathew Kemp, are opposed to the plan.

When not voting Tory, the rural areas of Rother tend to go Liberal Democrat. Suzanne Williams is standing again in the Battle Town ward with a well-known member of the community, Robin White, hoping to join her if Battle once again elects two Liberal Democrats to the council.

The battle for Battle is usually fought on local issues with electors ignoring the national standings of both Liberal Democrats and Tories.

The Liberal Democrat stronghold on the seat is expected to be strongly challenged by Tories Margaret Leicester and Tony Mitchell, with John Gately standing for Labour.

All three major parties are pledging to protect this corner of Sussex. The Tory controlled Rother District Council under the leadership of Graham Gubby, who is standing in Bexhill's St Stephen's Ward, says Rother has improved under Tory control with the area successfully protected along with moves to improve the centre of Bexhill.

Liberal Democrats are pressing for more recycling and Labour is calling for more help for the communities and the youth in the area.

There will not be many earth- shattering results in Rother, but one or two seats are expected to change hands following boundary changes .

In addition to the seats being contested on May 1, there are elections in nine parishes in Rother. These results will also be declared throughout Friday, May 2.

There are 75 candidates fighting for 36 seats. (Key: C Conservative; I Independent; L Labour; LD Liberal Democrat)

Bexhill Central (2 seats): Eveline Armstrong (C); Michael Doncaster (LD); Neil Francis (LD); Joyce Hughes (C).

Bexhill Collington (2): Ronald Dyason (C); Heather Morrey (LD); Christopher Starnes (C).

Bexhill Kewhurst (2): Martin Horscroft (C); Brian Kentfield (C); John Zipperlen (LD).

Bexhill Old Town (2): Eric Armstrong (LD); Nicholas Hollington (L); Paul Lendon (C); James Wood (LD).

Bexhill Sackville (2): Jean Hopkinson (C); Christopher Storer (LD); Deirdre Williams (C).

Bexhill St Mark's (2): Stephen Calladine-Evans (LD); Stuart Earl (C); Joanne Gadd (C).

Bexhill St Michael's (2): Charles Clark (I); Peter Fairhurst (C); Martyn Forster (LD); Martin Kenward (C).

Bexhill St Stephen's (2): William Clements (C); Dominic Coughlan (L); Graham Gubby (C); Hilary McCorry (LD); Trevor Smith (LD).

Bexhill Sidley (2): Helen Bridger (L); Keith Bridger (L); Matthew Kemp (LD); Irena Massarella (C); Robert Wheeler (C).

Battle Town (2): John Gately (L); Margaret Leicester (C); Anthony Mitchell (C); Robert White (LD); Suzanne Williams (LD).

Brede Valley (2): Richard Carroll (C); Rowan Fookes (LD); Carl Maynard (C).

Crowhurst (1): John Kemp (LD); Timothy Macpherson (L); Ian Tomisson (C).

Darwell (2): Wendy Miers (I); Trevor Seemann (LD); David Vereker (C).

Eastern Rother (2): Paul Carey (L); Nicholas Cleveland-Stevens (LD); Keith Glazier (C); Sonia Holmes (LD); Keith Pike (L); Charles Ramus (C).

Ewhurst and Sedlescombe (1): Jeremy Field (LD); Matthew Wilson (C).

Marsham (2): Roger Bird (C); Paola Dorigato (L); Hugh Gallagher (I); Jolyon Holden (LD); Robin Patten (C); Shirley Wheeldon (L).

Rother Levels (2): Election postponed until June 12 because of the death of a candidate.

Rye (2): Anthony Arfwedson (C); Granville Bantick (LD); Geoffrey Lyus (L); David Russell (C); Samuel Souster (L).

Salehurst (2): Mary Barnes (C); Geoffrey Goodsell (C); George Hearn (LD); Susan Prochak (LD).

Ticehurst and Etchingham (2): Albert Barrass (LD); Ian Jenkins (C); John Potter (C); Mary Varrall (LD).