Who is standing in the Histon and Impington by-election following the resignation of Pippa Heylings?

The five candidates hoping to be elected to South Cambridgeshire District Council following the resignation of Pippa Heylings have been revealed.

Ms Heylings announced her resignation as a councillor for Histon and Impington earlier this month, after she was elected as MP for South Cambridgeshire in July.

Council leader Cllr Bridget Smith said it had been an “honour” to work with Ms Heylings in her six years as a councillor.

The five candidates who hope to be elected as a councillor on Thursday, 24 October are Kathryn Fisher for the Green Party, William Mason for the Labour Party, Clive Pelbrough-Power for the Conservative Party, James Rixon for the Liberal Democrats and Edd Stonham will stand as an independent.

Ms Fisher stood at July’s General Election in the St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire seat in which she lost out to Lib Dem, Ian Sollom.

In a statement published ahead of the by-election, she said: “Vote Green and bring a new positive energy to the political landscape; real hope and real change!”

Mr Mason, a teacher, said he will bring his “experience of service and speaking up for others” if elected.

“I’d like to be a councillor to help our area be the best it can be,” he said.

Mr Rixon lives in Histon with his family and an architectural consultancy in Cambridge that works with local charities and other organisations on decarbonisation and retrofit strategies.

If elected, Mr Rixon says he will build on Ms Heylings’ “strong legacy and work to advance policies that meet the needs of residents while enabling our communities to be green and sustainable”.

Mr Pelbrough-Power, a lawyer and property investment expert, is also vice-chairman of Huntingdon Conservatives.

Histon resident Mr Stonham has been a parish councillor in the village since 2008 and was previously a district councillor from 2010 to 2018.

He said: “Voting for me would give me the privilege of once again being one of your district councillors who puts the community first, not party politics.”

Voters in the by-election will need to show an accepted form of photo ID at the polling station before they will be issued with a ballot paper.

Anyone who does not have one of the accepted forms of photo ID can apply for a voter authority certificate, in order to still be able to vote.

The district council is currently made up of 34 Liberal Democrat councillors, nine Conservative councillors and one independent councillor.

Additional reporting by Hannah Brown, Local Democracy Reporter.