IT might only be June, but Cllr Sam Corcoran already has an eye on May 2019.

The leader of the Labour group on Cheshire East Council believes the time is right for change at Westfields.

His party is gearing up for next year’s local elections – when it will have the chance to end Conservative rule for the first time since CEC was formed a decade ago.

Cllr Corcoran said: “CEC desperately needs a new start. Labour is in a position to provide that.

“If not now, then when?”

Cllr Rachel Bailey, leader of CEC, told the Guardian in March that she needs residents to feel they can trust her to lead the council beyond May 2019.

But with police investigations, the suspension of senior officers and allegations of widespread workplace bullying all surrounding the council, Cllr Corcoran believes time is running out for the Tories.

He said: “The target would be that the Tories are not in control of CEC after May 2019. I think that is a realistic objective.

“We now have in place the candidates to fit all the seats that we hold and all the seats that we hope to win. Those candidates are ready to go.”

Labour currently has 16 councillors on CEC out of 82 seats in total – with the Conservatives occupying 51 of those.

The party’s candidate list for 2019 currently stands at 42 with more expected to follow by next May.

And although the list is yet to feature any candidates in Knutsford, Wilmslow and Poynton, Cllr Corcoran is hopeful his party can make a good impression on voters right across the borough.

“In the current climate I don’t think any Tory seat should be considered safe,” Cllr Corcoran said.

“Speaking as a Sandbach councillor, I still have Liberal Democrat leaflets from when I stood for CEC saying Labour can’t win here. I did win – and the Lib Dems came third.”

Housing is Cllr Corcoran’s top priority for 2019, while he is hoping to boost east Cheshire’s green economy by attracting new technology firms to the borough.

The party is also keeping local issues at the heart of its campaign – from tackling fly-tipping in Crewe to clamping down on the types of speculative housing developments which have hit the borough in recent years.

“Labour will refresh the local plan to ensure we have a robust five-year housing land supply and properly bring an end to speculative housing developments on green sites,” Cllr Corcoran added.

“I would also like to see CEC building council housing so the people of east Cheshire have appropriate housing to live in.

“At the moment the private developers are predominantly building executive style housing that is not needed, but it is what makes them the most money.”