More than 100 candidates are off the starting blocks for the elections on May 6 - vying to get a seat in City Hall and help make local government history in Bradford.

The election comes as the Labour Group considers setting up a radical, Westminster-style one-party cabinet to take many of the authority's key decisions in private.

There is also a huge shake-up in education as schools across the district prepare to go into a two-tier system.

Among the 107 candidates are education committee chairman Councillor Jim Flood who is fighting to regain his Bingley Ward seat - but the results could well depend on electors' views of his leading role in the massive schools restructure.

Council leader Ian Greenwood is also seeking re-election in his Little Horton Ward and, if he succeeds, is likely to try for a second term in his top post.

Chairman of the Council's regeneration committee Councillor Dave Green is another high-profile candidate finishing a year which has seen a number of political dramas. John Garside's £200 million Superdome bit the dust in December, with other major contenders now competing to take over the redevelopment of Odsal Stadium.

Proposals for a multi-million pound leisure development on the Vicar Lane car park in Bradford also toppled and again other companies are being considered.

But fed-up Rawson Market stall keepers' are protesting about the long-delayed redevelopment of the main market hall, which could depend on the sale of Vicar Lane.

Outspoken deputy leader of the Council's Tory group, Councillor Richard Wightman is also campaigning to keep his seat and the Liberal Democrat's regeneration spokesman, John Cole is seeking re-election.

All 30 wards are being contested by the Council's three main groups - Labour, Conservatives, and Liberal Democrats.

But the Green Party has a fairly strong presence with 11 candidates and there are three independent would-be councillors.

Two candidates are standing under the banner of Socialist Alternative and former Labour member George Riseborough is standing as Straight Principled Labour Against Sleaze and Hypocrisy.

Council leader Coun Greenwood said: "We have given priority to providing basic services well and will continue to give priority to our children's education, fighting crime and improving the environment."

Leader of the Council's Tory group, Councillor Margaret Eaton said Bradford's Labour Council had used the last Government as a convenient scapegoat to cut services and cover up financial mismanagement, but could not blame Westminster any more.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said council tax rises had gone up three times the rate of inflation and people were paying more for less and less. "The Liberal Democrats are campaigning for a more open and publicly accountable Council."

How the candidates line up in May

Bradford contenders are: (Asterisk denotes sitting Councillors)

Baildon: John Malcolm Charles Cole (Lib Dem)*, Carol Ann Jennings (Lab), Helen Theyer Kemp (Green), Edward Christopher Ward (Con).

Bingley: James Robert Flood (Lab)*, Robin Ernest Owens (Con), Muriel Winifred Thompson (Green), Rebecca Anne Walter (Lib Dem).

Bingley Rural: Andrew Simon Cooke (Con)*, Mark Roger Gregory (Lab), Timothy Iain Mead (Lib Dem), Kevin Robert Warnes (Green).

Bolton: Valerie Binney (Con), Colleen Middleton (Lib Dem), Andrew Eric Stone (Lab).

Bowling: Mukhtar Ali (Lab)*, Julie Rosemary Harrington (Lib Dem), Habib-Ur Rehman (Con).

Bradford Moor: Edward John Hallmann (Lib Dem), Sakhawat Hussain (Con), Raghvir Singh Virdee (Lab)*.

Clayton: Elaine Byrom (Con), Alexander Suchi (Green), Hugh Alaric Tooby (Lib Dem), Yvonne Alice Dorothy Joan Tough (Lab)*.

Craven: Christopher Michael Atkinson (Ind), David Robert Emmott (Con), Francis Melvyn Harrison (Lab), Hamish Gordon Hay (Lib Dem).

Eccleshill: Michael Attenborough (Lib Dem), Steven John Barnbrook (Lab), James Ralph Ryder (Con).

Great Horton: Moira Crabtree (Con), John Derek Godward (Lab)*, Mohammed Aminul Islam (Green), Colin Wright (Lib Dem).

Heaton: Lyndsay Helen Howard (Lib Dem), Sharaz Hussain (Con), Gary Steven Seekins (Lab).

Idle: Stuart David Bowman (Con), John Derrick Crewdson (Lab), Ann Lesley Ozolins (Lib Dem).

Ilkley: Peter Cheney (Lab), Samuel Edwin Harris (Lib Dem), Brian Martin Smith (Con)*.

Keighley North: Malcolm Slater (Lab)*, Mark Francis Startin (Con), Maria Van Mastrigt (Lib Dem).

Keighley South: Lynn Joyce (Lab), Tracy Lorraine Keeley (Lib Dem), William Neil Redman (Con).

Keighley West: Brian Hudson (Ind), James Francis Keeley (Lib Dem), Arshed Majeed (Con), Barry Kenneth Thorne (Lab)*.

Little Horton: Ian Barry Greenwood (Lab)*, Susan Elizabeth Lambert (Lib Dem), Arshad Mahmood (Con), Kevin Charles Wilson (Soc Alt).

Odsal: Brian Boulton (Lib Dem), David Michael Adam Green (Lab)*, John Antony Robertshaw (Con).

Queensbury: Adrian Hugh Cruden (Lib Dem), Andrew Craig Pitts (Lab), George Frank Riseborough (Straight Principled Labour Against Sleaze Hypocrisy), Andrew Stephen Smith (Con).

Rombalds: Alfred James Benjamin (Lab), John Hall (Lib Dem), Richard Edward John Wightman (Con)*.

Shipley East: Mark Richard Blackburn (Lab), Martin John Love (Green), Michael Pollard (Lib Dem), Charles William Wyatt-Millington (Con).

Shipley West: Francis Rowland Dale (Lab), David Michael Ford (Green), David John Herdson (Con), Brian Moore (Lib Dem).

Thornton: Ian Alexander Bowmaker (Lab), John Buffham (Con), Alun Owen Griffiths (Lib Dem), Michael Anthony Rawnsley (Green).

Toller: Amir Hussain (Lab), Arshad Hussain (Con), Ian James Inness (Lib Dem).

Tong: Michael Johnson (Lab), David John Manogue (Con), John Brian Massen (Lib Dem).

Undercliffe: Michael T Looby (Con), James E Mangeolles (Lib Dem), Eileen McNally (Lab)*, Steven Schofield (Green).

University: Mehrban Hussain (Con), Rangzeb (Lab), John Edward Robinson (Green), Sajjad Hussain Shah (Soc Alt), Helen Wright (Lib Dem).

Wibsey: Ralph David Ritchie Berry (Lab)*, Shauna Ann Devonshire (Lib Dem), Richard Ian Sheard (Con).

Worth Valley: Sarah Jane Brough Hutton (Lib Dem), Glen William Miller (Con), David Samuels (Ind), Michael Arnold Young (Lab)*.

Wyke: Kevin Anthony Hall (Lib Dem), Peter Adrian Longthorn (Lab), Robert Philip Andrew Reynolds (Con).

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.