Voters in Ellesmere Port’s Strawberry ward head to the polls on October 2 for a by-election, a vote triggered after the incumbent Labour councillor stepped down for health reasons. Among the six candidates will be Ray McHale, who is running as an independent. Now retired, he is secretary of West Cheshire Trades Union Council, an active member of Unite Community and a trustee of Chester Friends of Palestine. Launching his election campaign, he took aim at both Labour and Reform UK. When not involved in politics and trade union work, he said his main pastime was ‘pottering around in the garden’.