THE Deputy Leader of Herefordshire Council has confirmed she will stand again in the county elections in less than a year’s time.

Hereford & South Herefordshire Conservatives has announced it has selected Coun Elissa Swinglehurst to stand again in the rural Llangarron ward in the southwest of the county next May.

She moved to the local area in 2003 and has been acounty councillor since 2015 and is also a Welsh Newton and Llanrothal parish councillor,.

Coun Swinglehurst’s experience includes planning appeals, flooding litigation and drafting the Neighbourhood Development Plan.

She is the county council Cabinet member for culture and the environment within the county’s Conservative-led administration, where she has championed the state of the River Wye while chairing the Wye Catchment Nutrient Management Board for the council.

Appointments to other bodies include Herefordshire & Worcestershire Joint Members Waste Resource Management Forum, Herefordshire Local Nature Partnership, the Nutrient Management Board and the River Lugg Internal Drainage Board.

The constituency Conservative association has also confirmed that Coun Dave Davies will once again stand for Dinedor Hill southeast of Hereford.

He sits on the county’s planning committee as well as on scrutiny committees covering children’s services and health and care, and externally serves on the board of the Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority.

Earlier is was confirmed that Coun Pete Stoddart, Cabinet member for finance, will step down from his Bromyard Bringsty ward next May due to health issues.

The other main parties in the county were asked if they too could confirm any candidates in the upcoming elections.

Former council Leader David Hitchiner, a member of the Independents for Herefordshire (i4H) group, said it was “not yet in a position to confirm our candidates for next year”.

A spokesperson for the LibDems said it would announce candidates for individual wards “over the coming months”.