THE ruling Conservative group on Gloucestershire County Council have drawn up the battle lines in Stroud district for the upcoming election.

Candidates for nine of the 10 divisions in Stroud district have been officially announced – with a replacement for the disowned Mark Rees in Rodborough yet to be found.

With half the seats in the district currently blue, the Tories will be looking to hold on to the balance of power on May 4, while making gains in key areas.

The only councillor looking to retain their current seat at Conservative-run Shire Hall is Brian Tipper in Cam Valley, who has represented the division since 2013.

Cllr Dorcas Binns, who currently holds the seat in Nailsworth, will instead fight for the Minchinhampton division – the area she represents on Stroud District Council (SDC).

This will free up the Nailsworth seat for former district Emma Sims to possibly make a return to the political sphere.

The hotly contested Stroud Central seat will be fought by Debbie Young, the current district councillor for Chalford.

She will look to cause a major upset and claim the seat held by the Greens for the last eight years.

Meanwhile, Keith Rippington will challenge for the Bisley and Painswick seat current held by fellow Conservative Jason Bullingham, who steps aside after four years.

Cllr Stephen Davies, the current district councillor for Severn at Ebley Mill, will attempt to fight the large county division of Hardwicke and Severn.

This solid blue seat has been held by Conservative councillor Anthony Blackburn since 2009.

Challengers looking to upset Labour in their strongholds include John Jeffreys, who will attempt to unseat the Dursley county councillor and current leader of Stroud District Council, Steve Lydon.

Questionably the biggest challenge of the GCC elections however falls to 21-year-old Tory candidate Ryan Davis.

As one of the youngest parish councillors in the UK, Ryan, who has cerebral palsy, wants to prove that disability is no barrier in the world of politics.

He has been selected to try and win the Stonehouse division currently held by leader of the Labour group at Shire Hall, Lesley Williams, who has held the seat for 16 years.

Last but not least, the Conservatives have selected Graham Smith to fight the Wotton seat currently held by Liberal Democrat councillor John Cordwell.

Former SDC chairman Mark Rees had been selected to try and wrestle the Rodborough seat away from Labour’s Brian Oosthuysen.

But his candidacy was withdrawn swiftly by the Gloucestershire Conservatives after he was caught up in a furore over the sharing of an Islamophobic post on Facebook by the controversial far right group the English Defence League (EDL).

A new candidate for the Rodborough division has yet to be announced.

GCC is currently run by the Conservatives, who are by far the largest party with 25 councillors.

The Liberal Democrats are the second biggest party with 14.

Labour have nine councillors, the Greens and UKIP have one, and there is one independent.

The elections for Gloucestershire County Council will be held on May 4, 2017.