Most town and parish council seats across the new Somerset West and Taunton district will be filled without the need for an election.

There are 78 parish and town councils across the new district, which are broken into 99 different wards, depending on the size and layout of the area.

Click here to find out how many seats are in each ward

Of the 99 wards, only seven wards are heading for elections on May 2.

This is because the number of people nominated for these areas is equal to, or fewer, than the amount of people standing.

For example, for the Wellington North Ward on Wellington Town Council, has space for five councillors. As five people have stood for this ward, there is no need for an election.

But for some wards, not enough people have stood, leaving vacancies between. For example in Williton, where there are 12 seats available, and only seven people have stood.

In three wards, no candidates were nominated. These are Minehead Alcombe North where there is one seat, Trull Killams Ward - where there is also one seat, and Ruishton Thornfalcon Ward, where there are two seats.

For these areas, a new election will be held within 35 days of May 2.

Click here for the full list of uncontested parish and town council ward seats

But voting will take place in seven wards alongside the full Somerset West and Taunton elections on May 2.

Elections will take place for town and parish councils for Bradford on Tone (7 seats), Minehead North Ward (3 seats), Wellington South East Ward (1 seat), Wellington Rockwell Green (2 seats), Porlock (12 seats), West Monkton (9 seats), and Wiveliscombe (18 seats).

Click here to view the full list of candidates standing in the parish and town council elections on May 2

You need to be registered to vote before April 12 to be able to participate in the local elections. Registering to vote is easy to do and only takes a few minutes online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

If you want to apply for a postal vote the deadline is 5pm on Monday April 15. You will receive a ballot paper and Postal Vote Statement.

Make sure you send back your postal vote so it arrives by Election Day –Thursday May 2. If it arrives after voting closes, it will not be counted. If it is too late to post back, you can hand it in at your local polling station or to your local council office on May 2 as long as it is for the same electoral area.

The deadline for proxy voting applications is 5pm on Wednesday April 24. Voting by proxy means that you can appoint someone to vote for you if you can’t get to your local polling station on Election Day – Thursday May 2.

Elections will also be taking place for district council seats on Somerset West and Taunton Council. There are 59 seats across 35 wards in the new council.

To see who is running in each ward, click here