THE candidates who will contest the Reading Borough Council election on May 3 have been unveiled.

More than 70 are spread across 16 seats, seven of which are held by Labour, six by the Conservatives and three by the Liberal Democrats. Nine parties are represented, with four candidates standing as independents.

Labour council leader, Jo Lovelock, and deputy leader, Tony Page, are among those defending their seats, while the Lib Dems' former deputy council leader, Kirsten Bayes, who lost her seat last May, is among the challengers.

Lab - Labour

Con - Conservative

LD - Liberal Democrat

Grn - Green

CS - Common Sense

Co-op - Co-operative

UKIP - UK Independence Party

Rom - The Roman Party. Ave!

Current council composition:

Labour 22

Conservative 16

Lib Dem 6

Green 2

*Seat held by

Abbey:

Kirsten Bayes (LD)

Alex Coleman (Con)

Hazel Murphy (Grn)

Tony Page (Lab)

Howard Thomas (CS)

*Labour

Battle:

Imraan Ishtiaq (Con)

Gul Khan (Lab)

Alan Lockey (Grn)

Jean-Louis Pascual (Rom)

Mark Whiley (LD)

*Labour

Caversham:

Richard Davies (Lab/Co-op)

Jenny Hicks (Grn)

Dave Luckett (Con)

Jenny Woods (LD)

*Conservative

Church:

Annette Hendry (LD)

Azam Janjua (Con)

Vivienne Johnson (Grn)

Kim Maysh (CS)

Eileen McElligott (Lab)

*Conservative

Katesgrove:

Janel Blattler (LD)

Richard Robeson (Con)

James Towell (Grn)

Michael Turberville (Ind)

Rose Williams (Lab)

*Liberal Democrat

Kentwood:

Kevin Jackson (Grn)

Matt Plunkett (CS)

Daya Singh (Lab)

Jon Walls (LD)

Emma Warman (Con)

*Conservative

Mapledurham:

Isobel Ballsdon (Con)

Chris Burden (LD)

Dougie Coulter (Grn)

Ashley Pearce (Lab)

*Conservative

Minster:

Sunil Gandhi (Grn)

Georgina Hughes (LD)

Alanzo Seville (Con)

Liz Terry (Lab/Co-op)

*Labour

Norcot:

Michael Fairfax (Con)

Jo Lovelock (Lab)

Margaret McNeill (LD)

David Patterson (Grn)

*Labour

Park:

Rachael Chrisp (Lab/Co-op)

Hoyte Swager (LD)

Laurence Taylor (Con)

Jamie Whitham (Grn)

*Labour

Peppard:

David Absolom (Lab)

Mustafa Chaudhary (LD)

Jamie Chowdhary (Ind)

Kate Day (Grn)

Jane Standford-Beale (Con)

*Conservative

Redlands:

Robert Booth (Grn)

Tony Jones (Lab/Co-op)

Leo Lester (Con)

James Moore (LD)

*Liberal Democrat

Southcote:

Ali Asghar (Con)

Debs Edwards (Lab)

Kizzi Murtagh (Grn)

David Warren (Lib Dem)

*Labour

Thames:

Duncan Bruce (Lab/Co-op)

John Dickson (Ind)

Ed Hopper (Con)

Helen McNamara (Grn)

Guy Penman (LD)

*Conservative

Tilehurst:

Haji Banaras (Lab/Co-op)

Doug Cresswell (Grn)

William Macphee (UKIP)

Meri O'Connel (LD)

Rob Vickers (Con)

*Liberal Democrat

Whitley:

Nick Brown (Con)

Rebecca Chester (LD)

Mike Diamond (CS)

Keith Johnson (Grn)

Mike Orton (Lab)

Jamie Wake (Ind)

*Labour