The wards to watch in the Bolton Council local elections

Around a third of the seats in the council chamber are available on the opening of the polls on May 2.

Currently the authority is in no overall control. The authority's largest group is the Labour Group with 28 seats but it is three seats short of a majority.

It is looking to win these seats while the opposition Conservative Group is looking to win back some of the seats it lost on a disastrous day last year.

Here are some of the wards to watch in two weeks.

ASTLEY BRIDGE WARD
Astley Bridge is one of the wards where the seats are shared between Labour and the Tories. 

The seat up for election is that of Labour's Kate Taylor who won it by a margin of less than 20 votes over the closest Conservative Group candidate last year. It looks likely to be a target for the Tories as a result.

BREIGHTMET WARD
Breightmet is another of the wards where the seats are shared between Labour and the Tories.

The seat up for election is that of Labour's Robert Morrisey who won it by a margin of 28 votes over the closest Conservative Group candidate last year. It looks likely to be another target for the Tories as well.

HORWICH NORTH WARD
Horwich North has two seats up for election after the resignation of Craig Rotheram, of Horwich and Blackrod First, as a result of a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease.

The group is the joint third largest group in the council chamber and it is aiming to remain so by retaining these seats with its candidates Charlotte Sears and Victoria Rigby.

HULTON WARD
Hulton was the scene of one of the closest contests last year with the independent Derek Bullock winning his seat by a handful of votes.

Now in a partnership with Horwich and Blackrod First he will be in the crosshairs of Labour, the Tories and others including relative newcomers Reform UK & Bolton For Change and the Workers Party of Britain.

KEARSLEY WARD
Kearsley was in the hands of One Kearsley until the end of last year when leader Paul Heslop resigned and his colleagues Debbie Newall and Melanie Livesey switched to Labour.

The seat of Cllr Heslop was won with ease by Tracey Wilkinson, of Farnworth and Kearsley First, at a by-election suggesting the seat of Cllr Livesey could be won by the group as well.

The council local elections are the same day as the Greater Manchester mayoral elections, when Andy Burnham is to take on Laura Evans (Conservative), Jake Austin (Lib Dem), Hannah Spencer (Green), Dan Barker (Reform UK) and Nick Buckley (Independent) or the role he has held for two terms already.

For information go to bolton.gov.uk/voting.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.