Powys residents interested in standing for election can find out more information from the county council’s elections office.

Elections will be held on May 4 this year for all county council, town and community councils in Wales.

Powys County Council chief executive and returning officer, Jeremy Patterson said: "Residents decide to become a councillor for a variety of reasons, for instance because they are active in their community or committed to a particular issue or political party, but whatever the reason they are often surprised by the amount and variety of interesting work.

"Almost anyone can be a local councillor and it is important that we get a range of different people from different backgrounds to represent local communities. It is a challenging role but one that can be very rewarding."

At county council level, 73 county councillors are to be elected, with each county councillor representing an electoral division that comprises one or more communities with an average of approximately 1,500 electors.

Powys council is controlled by the three independent groups, the Powys Independent Alliance, the Independent Group and the Non-Political Group who hold 40 of the council’s 73 seats between them.

Council leader Barry Thomas, a member of the Non-Political Group, selects his eight cabinet members, who hold executive power, from the independent groups.

The Liberal Democrats, who had run the council in coalition with the Powys Independent Alliance for a year before the last council elections in 2012, are the main opposition, and largest political party group, with 11 councillors.

The Conservatives have nine members as well as one independent who is aligned to the group.

Labour holds seven council seats and four councillors are not aligned to any of the groups.

The Green Party has already announced it is to stand candidates to try and win its first seats on Powys council while Labour are also expected to file an increased number of candidates as is Plaid Cymru.

For the 110 town and community councils in Powys, there is a total of 1,041 community councillors to be elected. The communities vary widely in geographical area and in their numbers of residents. The smallest has approximately 149 electors and seven councillors, while the largest has over 8,000 electors and 16 councillors.

Nomination papers will be accepted from March 20 until nominations close at 4pm on April 4, 2017.

Anyone interested in obtaining a nomination pack or finding out more about the election process, can contact the elections office on 01597 826747 or visit www.powys.gov.uk/elections