With local government elections in Northern Ireland just days away, the full line-up of candidates is now confirmed and we know who we can vote for across the eleven council areas.
In the Ards and North Down Borough Council area, just over 70 candidates will compete across seven district electoral areas to elect 40 councillors to represent the public in the local authority for the next term.
Here, Independents are aiming to return while Sinn Féin is hoping to secure its first ever seat.
Read more: Northern Ireland council election 2023: Dates, candidates, where to vote and more you need to know
Former Down hurler Noel Sands is running in the Ards Peninsula and hopes to become the first Sinn Féin councillor in Ards and North Down but faces an uphill battle in an overwhelmingly unionist-supporting council area.
At the last election of 2019, the DUP, UUP and Alliance had representation in all seven DEAs (District Electoral Areas) with the Greens in three and the SDLP in one while three Independents were also elected.
This time the TUV is fielding six candidates with the aim of capitalising on any wavering unionist support for the DUP.
The council election will take place on May 18. It was pushed back by two weeks to avoid the counting of votes clashing with the coronation of King Charles III on May 6.
It will be the first electoral test for Northern Ireland's political parties since last May's Stormont Assembly election.
Take at look here at our full coverage as the election campaign unfolds.
Here is the full list of the candidates standing in Ards and North Down for the election on Thursday 18 May:
Ards Peninsula
Robert Hugh Adair (DUP)
Joe Boyle (SDLP)
Nigel Edmund (DUP)
Boyd Ireland (Independent)
David Kerr (DUP)
Lorna McAlpine (Alliance)
Gillian McNaull (Green Party)
Noel Sands (Sinn Féin)
Eddie Thompson (DUP)
Tom Thompson (TUV)
Pete Wray (UUP)
Bangor Central
Craig Blaney (UUP)
Alistair Cathcart (DUP)
Karen Douglas (Alliance)
Stephen John Dunlop (Green Party)
Alex Harbinson (Alliance)
Wesley Irvine (Independent)
Rachel McCord (UUP)
Chris McCracken (Alliance)
Ray McKimm (Independent)
Dean McSorely (DUP)
Tim Mullen (Conservatives)
Peter Wilson (TUV)
Bangor East and Donaghadee
Mark Brooks (UUP)
David Chambers (UUP)
James Cochrane (DUP)
Ciara Henry (Green Party)
Hannah Irwin (Alliance)
Bill Keery (Independent)
Paul Leeman (Conservatives)
Janice MacArthur (DUP)
Gillian McCollum (Alliance)
Tom Smith (Independent)
Bangor West
Colin Breen (Conservatives)
Christine Creighton (Alliance)
Jennifer Gilmour (DUP)
John Gordon (TUV)
Stephen Hollywood (UUP)
Peter Martin (DUP)
Tony McCann (SDLP)
Barry McKee (Green Party)
Alison McWhinney (Alliance)
Susan Prentice (Independent)
Huw Stacey (Alliance)
Comber
Rachel Ashe (Alliance)
Stephen Cooper (Independent)
Trevor Cummings (DUP)
Libby Douglas (DUP)
Patricia Morgan (Alliance)
Sam Patterson (TUV)
Cory Quinn (Green Party)
John Sloan (Independent)
Philip Smith (UUP)
Holywood and Clandeboye
Diane Adams (TUV)
Helen Corbett (Alliance)
Alan Graham (DUP)
Carl McClean (DUP)
Linzi McLaren (UUP)
Martin McRandal (Alliance)
David Rossiter (Alliance)
Deirdre Vaughan (SDLP)
Rachel Woods (Green Party)
Newtownards
Eddie Allen (TUV)
Naomi Armstrong (DUP)
Ian Cox (Independent)
Steven Irvine (Independent)
Colin Kennedy (DUP)
Ben King (Independent)
Maurice Macartney (Green Party)
Alan McDowell (Alliance)
Stephen McIlveen (DUP)
Vicky Moore (Alliance)
Richard Smart (UUP)
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