Residents in Kingston upon Thames will choose who they want to run their council next month as the local elections for all 32 London boroughs and other seats across the UK edge closer. Kingston voters will go to the polls on May 5 to elect the 48 councillors who will represent them for the next four years.

New ward arrangements for Kingston will come into force at the elections, meaning the boundary of every ward in the borough will change and the number of wards will increase from 16 to 19. The number of councillors will remain the same. In total, 198 candidates will be vying for 48 seats across 19 wards.

The council has been run by the Liberal Democrats since 2018, when it won control from the Conservatives. It is currently made up of 37 Liberal Democrats, eight Conservatives and two Independents. There is one empty seat on the council following the resignation of Councillor Sharron Falchikov-Sumner at the end of January this year.

The Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives each have 48 candidates standing in the elections, while the Green Party have 26 candidates. There are also 18 candidates from the Kingston Independent Residents Group hoping to gain a seat, six Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidates, two Independents, one Women's Equality Party candidate and one candidate from the Liberal Party in the running.

The housing crisis in Kingston is one of the major local issues which could sway voters, alongside tower blocks in the borough and council tax. Candidates' views on plans for the redevelopment of the Kingfisher Leisure Centre and the future of the Guildhall may also factor into residents' decisions. The full list of candidates standing in the Kingston Council elections is as follows:

Alexandra Ward: Lizzie Hensman (Lab); Peter Herlinger (Lib Dem); Simon Illsley (Con); Des Kay (Green); Alexander Lock (Lab); Ian Manders (Lib Dem); Andy Rowe (Con); Kate Worley (Green)

Berrylands Ward: Carole Ann (The Liberal Party); Johnnie Byrne (Lab); Jackie Davies (Lib Dem); Lawrence Green (Lab): Claire Harding (Con); Jagie Rai (Con); Anita Schaper (Lib Dem); Philip Smith (Green); Peter Whitworth (Green)

Canbury Gardens Ward: Fiona Campbell (Green); Bilal Chohan (Lab); Noel Hadjmichael (Lib Dem); James Manthel (Lib Dem); Maria Netley (Con); Martin Pike (Con); Chris Priest (Lab); Linda Sawyer (Green)

Chessington South and Malden Rushett Ward: Bushra Aziz (Con); Director of Undertaking Brunskill (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); A.Gent Chinners (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Captain Coiley (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Maxwell Freedman (Lab); Clare Keogh (Lab); Andreas Kirsch (Lib Dem); Griseldis Kirsch (Lib Dem); Joe Lucky Guv (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Sharukh Mirza (Lib Dem); Alexander Nelson (Lab); Sue Towner (Con); Harry Woods (Con)

Coombe Hill Ward: Kim Bailey (Lib Dem); Rowena Bass (Con); Dave Cooper (Lab); Ian George (Con); Kerry Giles (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Adrian King (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Anthony Murray (Lab); Jason Pethers (Lib Dem)

Coombe Vale Ward: Cathy Adams (Con); Roy Arora (Con); Andrew Bolton (Lib Dem); David Giles (Kingston Independent Residents Group); John Grant (Green); Kamala Kugan (Lib Dem); Itret Latif (Con); Liz Meerabeau (Lab); Ian Parker (Lab); Andrew Sillett (Lib Dem); Gareth Thomas (Lab)

Green Lane and St James Ward: Tim Cobbett (Lib Dem); David Condry (Con); Simon Edwards (Lib Dem); James Giles (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Gerry Jones (Lab); Suniya Qureshi (Con); Gary See (Lab); Yvonne Tracey (Kingston Independent Residents Group)

Hook and Chessington North Ward: Afy Afilaka (Lib Dem); Sue Ansari (Lib Dem); Steph Archer (Lib Dem); Gia Borg-Darcy (Con); Romana Chohan (Con); Colnel Cramps (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Lady Dave (Official Monster Raving Loony Party); Paul Mitchell (Lab); Clive Simmons (Lab); Adam Stannard (Con); Christine Thompson (Lab)

King George's and Sunray Ward: Mark Beynon (Lib Dem); Stephen Cherry (Con); Nicholas Draper (Lab); Helen Grocott (Lib Dem); Claire Johns-Perring (Lab); Mihaela McKendrick (Con)

Kingston Gate Ward: Jamila Bibi (Con); Andy Bickerstaff (Con); George Callaghan (Con); Jennifer Child (Green); Alison Gomez-Russell (Green); Sabah Hamed (Lib Dem); Helen Hinton (Kingston Independent Residents Group); James Leather (Lab); Anne Owen (Lib Dem); Sally Richardson (Lab); Farshid Sadr-Hashemi (Lib Dem); Caroline Shah (Ind); Deepa Veneik (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Paul Wright (Green); Ashley Zhang-Borges (Lab)

Kingston Town Ward: Charles Bamford (Lab); Jamie Brilley (Green); Kezia Coleman (Lab); Phil Doyle (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Martin Ellis (Lab); Roger Hayes (Lib Dem); Georgina Hinton (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Fiona Johnson (Green); John Johnson (Green); Steve Kent (Con); Nicola Nardelli (Lib Dem); Richard Paton (Con); Colin Suckling (Con); John Sweeney (Lib Dem); Bob Tyler (Kingston Independent Residents Group)

Motspur Park and Old Malden East Ward: Alice Campbell (Lab); Lynn Henderson (Lib Dem); Stuart Newton (Green); Terry Paton (Con); Amina Rasool (Lab); Rob Smith (Con); Richard Thorpe (Lib Dem)

New Malden Village Ward: Paul Bedforth (Con); Sean Casey (Lab); Mary Clark (Ind); Philip Cockle (Con); Pat Dobson (Lab); Stephen Dunkling (Lab); Mark Durrant (Lib Dem); Lesley Heap (Lib Dem); Richard Hebborn (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Saad Hindosh (Con); Lucy Howard (Green); Dongsung Kim (Lib Dem); Marc Tracey (Kingston Independent Residents Group)

Norbiton Ward: Sandira Beekoo (Con); Marcela Benedetti (Lab); Alex Benn-Amir (Lab); Emily Davey (Lib Dem); Charlotte Gray (Con); Martin Hall (Green); Valerie Jenner (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Charlie Redman (Green); Tony Robinson (Green); Susan Skipwith (Lib Dem); Laurie South (Lab); Olly Wehring (Lib Dem); Alexander Williams (Con)

Old Malden Ward: Grace Bollins (Lab); Kevin Davis (Con); Emma Francis (Lab); Pauline Howard (Green); Jason Hughes (Con); Mike Massimi (Lib Dem); Elizabeth Park (Lib Dem)

St Mark's and Seething Wells Ward: Naomi Bamford-Hurrell (Lab); Conor Bollins (Lab); Cameron Davis (Con); Charlie Deacon (Lab); Elizabeth Green (Lib Dem); Leslie Jones (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Hubert Kwisthout (Green); Deborah Olszewski (Women's Equality Party); Callum Paton (Con); Tariq Shabbeer (Green); Sharron Sumner (Green); Diane White (Lib Dem); Ian Wilson (Con); Yogan Yoganathan (Lib Dem)

Surbiton Hill Ward: Simon Ayre (Lab); Caroline Bowis (Con); Anna Burlingsby (Green); Claire Burlingsby (Green); Glen Colegate (Kingston Independent Residents Group), Greta Farian (Lab); Patrick Goodacre (Green); Alison Holt (Lib Dem); Richard Hudson (Con); Andrew Innes (Con); Amir Khan (Lib Dem); Mo Rajput (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Tom Reeve (Lib Dem); Hayley Smithers (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Rebecca Way (Lab)

Tolworth Ward: Anthony Banks (Lab); Julian Bedale (Con); Jemima Davis (Con); Kelv Foote (Kingston Independent Residents Group); Mariana Goncalves (Lib Dem); Benjamin Kerkham (Lab); Praveen Kolluguri (Lab); Amia Tania (Con); Thay Thayalan (Lib Dem); Andrew Wooldridge (Lib Dem)

Tudor Ward: Jamal Chohan (Con); Mark Garland (Lab); Patrick Hall (Lib Dem); David Horgan (Green); Ben Mallett (Con); Jack Smith (Lib Dem); Frank Wingate (Lab)