A former mayor who has been out of politics for nearly five years has decided to stand in the Warwick council elections.

Ben Dhesi will stand as the Conservative candidate in the Manor Ward, which is currently held by the Liberal Democrats, after losing his seat in 1995.

All of the seats in the areas are up for election, 45 in total, but chief reporter on the Warwick & Leamington Evening Telegraph James Wilde believes there will be no surprises.

He said:

"I personally think there may be a few Conservative gains and perhaps a couple of seats for the Liberal’s but I don’t imagine anything spectacular happening.

"There are a couple of well known figures in the area standing down, including Graham Windybank who has been a Tory councillor in Kenilworth St. John’s for many years, but it is quite a Conservative area so I think they will hold that."

The Warwick elections have not stirred up much interest in the area at all, and Wilde believes this is due to the parties steering clear of contentious issues.

He said:

"People do not have a great deal of interest in these elections and no-one is not really taking about them at all.

"There are not even many posters up around the place and parties do not seem to have been sending out the quantity of promotional literature that they have in the past.

"There are high profile issues in the area like the £30 million development of the Regent Hotel but the parties seem to have avoided talking about it until after the elections, which is not really the idea."