FIVE political parties will contest a by-election that has been called after the death of Labour councillor Asha Ali Ismail.

Cllr Ismail, who represented Harper Green ward, died at the age of 34 after a battle with cancer.

A by-election has now been set for Thursday, October 16, and senior figures from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and The Greens have indicated that they will all be vying for the seat.

But questions have been raised over the value of holding an election for Harper Green, a seat which is due to be contested again next May.

A by-election does not happen automatically on a councillor’s death — it is triggered when two or more registered electors within the borough notify the elections office that they want it to take place.

Senior Labour councillor Nick Peel said: “With by-elections costing about £10,000 to organise and the seat up again in May, you have to question whether this is the best use of public money when we have two other councillors doing a great job in the ward.

“But as it has been called we will be contesting it.

“Asha was doing great work in the seat and it’s a tragedy that she died so young.

“We cannot replace her but want to continue her work.”

Liberal Democrat leader Roger Hayes said he was surprised the election was called.

He said: “Perhaps it is £10,000 being spent that needn’t have been, but I am quite sure we will have someone standing and are hopeful of a decent performance.”

Tory leader David Greenhalgh said it was “rich” for other parties to question the value of holding the election.

He said: “I must admit we weren’t planning on calling it, but I think it is rich for other parties to question it when I think if it was in their interest to hold an election, they would have called one — it has happened before.”

Standing for the Tories will be Robert Tyler, who came second at the last Harper Green by-election in December when Cllr Ismail won the seat. UKIP ran in third place in that vote and party chairman Joan Johnson said she was looking forward to seeing how they do this time around.

She added: “I think it will be interesting in the present climate — I am confident of a good performance and think we can aim for second place or above.”

Green Party leader Alan Johnson said: “We want to carry on where the party is going nationally — we are aiming to be the fourth party in Bolton.”