A long-standing county councillor has announced he will run in the upcoming unitary council elections in May - alongside his wife and a Stokenchurch parish councillor.

Darren Hayday, who has been an independent Bucks County Councillor for the West Wycombe area since 2013, will stand in this year's Buckinghamshire Council elections.

His two running partners are his accountant wife Orshi and parish councillor Neil Watson.

Orshi has been helping Darren in all of his campaigning and casework over the years - and says the time is now right to enter politics officially.

Neil has been running his own domestic energy and electrical consultancy for several years and lives in Water End with his wife.

He has been living in the Wycombe area since the 1980s.

Darren is a well-known figure in the community - taking part in litter picking and gardening projects with residents, pushing for a Sands Parish Council, fighting against planning applications and helping to get roads resurfaced and potholes filled.

Darren, Orshi and Neil will all be running as part of the Independent Network (IN) for Buckinghamshire - an organisation registered with the Electoral Commission to field independent candidates.

Darren said: "I very much believe that ‘party politics’ does not have a place in local government - the important thing is to do the best for the taxpayers, spending their money as prudently as possible.

"It does not matter who has an idea or formulates a plan: if it is good then it should be supported and not rejected just because it was proposed by someone representing the wrong ‘party’.

"Conversely bad ideas/plans should be rejected no matter who instigates them.”

The IN does not have a set manifesto - and allows independents to stand in elections using its emblem.

The candidates all agree to a common code of conduct and principles of behaviour called the Bell Principles.

If you are considering standing as an independent candidate in the new Bucks Unitary elections in May and would like help and advice, Darren can be reached at d_hayday@hotmail.com