All the by-elections taking place for wards in the Banbury area in May

A total of seven councillors across Oxfordshire have stepped down from their wards before the notice of election deadline of March 25. This includes three in the Cherwell district - and one of which is Sean Woodcock, Labour MP for Banbury.

The Labour Party confirmed that all its MPs would eventually step down from councillor roles, and pledged to ban MPs from having second jobs with “very limited exceptions”.

The by-elections will take place on May 1, the same day as the Oxfordshire County Council local elections, so that there are no additional costs for holding the by-election.

Separate poll cards and postal votes will be issued for district by-elections.

The deadline for registering to vote is midnight on April 11.

The candidates for the Cherwell District Council up for election on May 1 are listed below.

Banbury Cross & Neithrop – replacing Matt Hodgson (Labour)

• Fiaz Ahmed – Conservative
• Rebecca Bell – Lib Dem
• Andrew Eaton – Labour
• Simon Garrett – Independent

Banbury Grimsbury & Hightown – replacing Sean Woodcock (Labour)

• Cassi Bellingham – Independent
• Henry Elugwu – Labour
• Karli Kwiatkowski – Green
• Sophie Parker-Manuel – Lib Dem
• Paul Austin Sargent - Conservative

Deddington – replacing Andrew McHugh (Conservative)

• Aaron Bliss – Green
• Zoe McLernon – Conservative
• Nick Mylne – Lib Dem
• Helen Oldfield – Labour
• West Oxfordshire District Council