THE list of Wirral candidates you can vote for at next month's crucial local elections has been revealed.

It's been published by the local authority ahead of the election on May 2, with this year's Wirral Council poll set to be the most hotly-contested on Merseyside.

The ruling Labour Party currently has 35 seats, while the Conservatives have 21, the Liberal Democrats five, the Green Party one and there will be four independents.

That means if Labour lose just two of their 35 seats, they could lose their majority and Wirral Council may end up in no overall control.

Like last year, there is a seat in each of the 22 electoral wards up for grabs – and both the Conservatives and Labour are fielding candidates in every one of them.

The Greens are putting forward candidates in 21 wards, Liberal Democrats in 16, and UKIP – which currently doesn't have any councillors – has nominated seven.

The main battlegrounds for the coming poll are expected to include Oxton, Leasowe and Moreton East, and Pensby and Thingwall – the latter won by a Labour majority of just 23 votes last year.

Here's the full list of candidates:

Bebington

  • Amanda Jane Crowfoot – Liberal Democrats
  • Rachel Heydon – Green Party
  • Geoff Jones – Conservative Party
  • Jerry Williams – Labour Party

Bidston and St James

  • Brian Martin Kenny – Labour Party
  • James Frederick Parkhouse – Green Party
  • Mike Parsons – Liberal Democrats
  • Vida Wilson – Conservative Party

Birkenhead and Tranmere

  • June Irene Cowin – Conservative Party
  • Steve Hayes – Green Party
  • Bill McGenity – Labour Party

Bromborough

  • Vicky Downie – Liberal Democrats
  • Des Drury – Conservative Party
  • Sheena Joanne Hatton – Green Party
  • Joe Walsh – Labour Party

Clatterbridge

  • Helen Janet Cameron – Conservative Party
  • Jim McGinley – Green Party
  • Kieran Michael Morgan – Labour Party

Claughton

  • Alex Fay – UKIP
  • Stephen Foulkes – Labour Party
  • Nicholas Malcolm Winston Hanna – Conservative Party
  • Liz Heydon – Green Party
  • Mo Morgan – Independent
  • Christoper Malcolm Teggin – Liberal Democrats

Eastham 

  • Harry Ross Gorman – Green Party
  • Phil Merry – Conservative Party
  • Dave Mitchell – Liberal Democrats
  • Ruth Catherine Molyneux – Labour Party

Greasby, Frankby and Irby

  • Jack Bland – UKIP
  • David Robert Burgess-Joyce – Conservative Party
  • Mark John Forshaw – Liberal Democrats
  • Cathy Page – Green Party
  • Tim Watson – Labour Party

Heswall 

  • Barbara Florence Burton – Green Party
  • Andrew Chapman Hodson – Conservative Party
  • Brian David Parsons – Labour Party
  • Robert Noel Thompson – Liberal Democrats

Hoylake and Meols 

  • Alix Rowena Cockcroft – Green Party
  • Thomas Stewart Laing – Labour Party
  • Peter Timothy Clifford Reisdorf – Liberal Democrats
  • Alison Jean Wright – Conservative Party

Leasowe and Moreton East

  • Debbie Caplin – Conservative Party
  • Michael John Dixon – Green Party
  • Karl Gerard Greaney – Labour Party

Liscard

  • Sue Arrowsmith – Liberal Democrats
  • Rodney Howard Melbourne – UKIP
  • Perle Winifred Sheldricks – Green Party
  • Sarah Kathryn Spoor – Labour Party
  • Michael Thomas Taylor – Conservative Party

Moreton West and Saughall Massie 

  • Helen Rosalinde O’Donnell – Green Party
  • David Robert Tyrrell – Liberal Democrats
  • Stan Webster – Labour Party
  • Steve Williams – Conservative Party

New Brighton

  • Pat Hackett – Labour Party
  • Keith Raybould – Conservative Party
  • Charlie Smethurst – Liberal Democrats
  • Cynthia Stonall – Green Party
  • Paula Walters – UKIP

Oxton

  • Chris Bunker – UKIP
  • Andy Corkhill – Liberal Democrats
  • Jeff Davies – Labour Party
  • Tina McDonnell – Conservative Party

Pensby and Thingwall

  • Phill Brightmore – Labour Party
  • Allen John Burton – Green Party
  • Mike Collins – Conservative Party
  • Colin William Thompson – Liberal Democrats

Prenton

  • Chris Cooke – Green Party
  • Angie Davies – Labour Party
  • Hilary Margaret Jones – Conservative

Rock Ferry

  • Johnathan Andrew – Conservative Party
  • Moira Joan Gommon – Green Party
  • Chris Meaden – Independent
  • Yvonne Carol Nolan – Labour Party

Seacombe

  • Diane Margaret Johnson – Green Party
  • Christine Mary Jones – Labour Party
  • John Richard Laing – Conservative Party
  • Chris Wellstead – UKIP

Upton

  • Lily Clough – Green Party
  • Alan Davies – Liberal Democrats
  • Emma Louise Sellman – Conservative Party
  • Tony Smith – Labour Party

Wallasey

  • James Anthony Brady – Green Party
  • John Richard Codling – Liberal Democrats
  • Kriss Patrick Cringle – UKIP
  • Paul Alan Hayes – Conservative Party
  • Paul John Martin – Labour Party

West Kirby and Thurstaston 

  • Jenny Johnson – Conservative Party
  • James Stewart Laing – Labour Party
  • Yvonne McGinley – Green Party
  • Michael Graham Redfern – Liberal Democrats