WAVERLEY Conservatives will enter the local government elections on May 5 with the knowledge that they already have 19 seats in the bag – a third of the whole council.

Rival parties and independents have failed to stump up candidates for an unprecedented nine of the 29 wards – handing the Tories 16 uncontested seats, including half the members of the council's current executive.

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.