By Luke Williamson
Melton West will appoint a new councillor to Leicestershire County Council after Alan Pearson decided to not stand for re-election due to health issues.
The seat will be contested by four candidates on Thursday, May 6, to replace Conservative Party councillor Mr Pearson.
The new Tory candidate running in the ward is Mark Frisby, looking to retain the seat for his party in this county council election.
His competition comes from Labour Party candidate Philip Allnatt, Alastair McQuillan of the Green Party and Independent candidate Marilyn Gordon.
Mr Frisby has run for election to Melton Borough Council before as an independent candidate, and has made the switch to the Conservative Party after losing by just four total votes in the 2019 borough election.
Mr Allnatt is an experienced politician who has served on Wiltshire Council where he held a number of positions including the Chair of the Budget before moving to Melton.
The Green Party representative, Alastair McQuillan, is known to voters in Melton after standing in the 2019 General Election.
He was unsuccessful in his bid to become the Rutland and Melton Member of Parliament, achieving just 4.9 per cent of the vote share, but was still the most voted for Green Party candidate in the East Midlands.
Former Mayor of Melton Marilyn Gordon is also standing for the County Council after a number of years away from politics, where she has repeatedly stood as an independent candidate.
The Ward is relatively new, with the first election for Melton West being in 2017 after the boundaries for Leicestershire were redrawn.
One of the first issues voters will want addressing is a planned ring road through two of the town’s busiest streets
The infrastructure of the town’s roads are a main concern to residents, with the proposed southern link to the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road still yet to even be agreed to.
The funding for the road is still to be decided upon and the incoming councillors will have to make a decision on this to allow building to start on the road.
The Government had offered £15 million to help the construction of the road but the deadline to accept it passed before the turn of the year, but it would be down to the councillors to get this money pledged again.
Other local economic issues are also high on the agenda for all candidates in the Melton West Ward, especially after the Coronavirus pandemic.
An increase in local services is also a priority, with members of the electorate wanting to see more frequent, and an eco-friendlier, bus service running into the town centre.
The Leicestershire County Council Election is on the Thursday, May 6, where all 55 seats are up for re-election.
Melton West Ward Factfile.
Melton West is relatively a newly established ward, from the redrawing of the boundaries in 2017. Alan Pearson, the outgoing county councillor, held the seat in the Melton South Ward from 2013, with that particular seat being held by the Conservative Party from 1997 until the present day.
In the previous election, there was just a turnout of 24.8 per cent, when Mr Pearson defeated Stef Blasé of the Labour Party and Liberal Democrat candidate Sam Asplin in a landslide victory, achieving 60.6 per cent of the vote share.
Melton Mowbray was recorded as Leicestershire’s only market town in 1086 Domesday Survey and is the third oldest market in England.
Dickinson and Morris Ye Olde Pork Pie shop is situated right on the border of the East and West Wards, and is the oldest and only remaining bakery producing and selling authentic Melton Mowbray Pork Pies on the same site of the original shop opened by John Dickinson in 1851.
The Melton West Ward includes the Borough Wards Melton Dorian, Melton Egerton and Melton Sysonby.
