The local government elections in Northern Ireland are just days away and the full line-up of candidates is now confirmed across the eleven council areas.
In the Lisburn and Castlereagh City 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, all eyes are on the Alliance Party, which is fielding 14 candidates including seven councillors defending their seats and seven new candidates.
Read more: Northern Ireland council election 2023: Dates, candidates, where to vote and more you need to know
While Lisburn and Castlereagh remains a strongly unionist area, Alliance's vote rose significantly between 2014 and 2019. At the last election of 2019, the party increased its numbers from five councillors to nine and topped the poll in each of the seven electoral areas.
Meanwhile, the DUP ended up with five less councillors in 2019, finishing with 15 seats and will be hoping this downward trend doesn’t continue.
Elsewhere, former SDLP MLA Pat Catney is hoping to make a return to local politics having previously served as a Lisburn councillor, after losing his Stormont seat last May
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 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council for the election on Thursday 18 May:
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Castlereagh East
Samantha Burns (DUP)
David Drysdale (DUP)
Andrew Girvin (TUV)
Martin Gregg (Alliance)
John Laverty (DUP)
Hazel Legge (UUP)
Sharon Lowry (Alliance)
Sharon Skillen (DUP)
Terry Winchcombe (Green Party)
Castlereagh South
Daniel Bassett (Sinn Féin)
Ryan Carlin (Sinn Féin)
Nancy Eaton (Alliance)
John Gallen (SDLP)
Michelle Guy (Alliance)
Jacinta Hamley (Green Party)
Michael Henderson (UUP)
Brian Higginson (DUP)
Simon Lee (SDLP)
Martin McKeever (Alliance)
Andrew Miller (Independent)
William Traynor (DUP)
Downshire East
James Baird (UUP)
Kurtis Dickson (Alliance)
John Drake (SDLP)
Stewart Ferris (TUV)
Andrew Gowan (DUP)
Uel Mackin (DUP)
Aaron McIntyre (Alliance)
Alex Swan (UUP)
Downshire West
Allan Ewart (DUP)
Owen Gawith (Alliance)
William Leathem (DUP)
Alan Martin (UUP)
Liz McCord (UUP)
Caleb McCready (DUP)
Siobhán Murphy (Sinn Féin)
Luke Robinson (Green Party)
Gretta Thompson (Alliance)
Killultagh
Thomas Beckett (DUP)
Stuart Brown (Independent)
Claire Kemp (Alliance)
Gary McCleave (Sinn Féin)
Ross McLernon (UUP)
Jack Patton (SDLP)
James Tinsley (DUP)
Laura Turner (UUP)
Lisburn North
Paul Burke (Sinn Féin)
Scott Carson (DUP)
Pat Catney (SDLP)
Jonathan Craig (DUP)
Linsey Gibson (UUP)
Gary Hynds (Independent)
Stephen Martin (Alliance)
Nicola Parker (Alliance)
Nicholas Trimble (UUP)
Lisburn South
Andrew Ewing (DUP)
Aisling Flynn (Sinn Féin)
Dee French (SDLP)
Alan Givan (DUP)
Amanda Grehan (Alliance)
Peter Kennedy (Alliance)
Stewart McEvoy (TUV)
Tim Mitchell (UUP)
Jenny Palmer (UUP)
Paul Porter (DUP)
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