Smaller parties will field a record number of candidates in the Braintree Council elections on May 7.
The district-wide poll will be held on the same day as the General Election, with 40 candidates from Ukip and the Greens battling for seats.
Both parties are putting up 20 candidates, more than double the nine hopefuls running for the Liberal Democrats.
The figures indicate a huge increase in support for Ukip in particular, because the number is more than four times as many as the party managed during the last full council elections in 2011.
Candidates for the antiEuropean Union party will be standing in 17 wards, the Greens in 18 and the Lib Dems in just six.
Ukip’s best hopes lie in the north of the district, where the party will be in a threeway fight with Labour and the Tories in the Yeldham, Stour Valley North and Bumpstead wards.
Voters will find their ballot sheets for the Braintree Council elections will look different this year, after the Boundary Commission made major changes to the electoral layout of district.
The number of wards has been reduced from 30 to 26, meaning the number of councillors will be slashed from 60 to 49.
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