THE wife of a county councillor who died from cancer will stand to fill the seat left by her husband.

Suzanne Wickham, wife of Jerry Wickham, will contest as a member of the Conservative party in the Ethandune Wiltshire Council by-election.

She is also a parish councillor for Keevil.

Salisbury Journal:

Candidate Suzanne Wickham (pictured whilst campaigning for a school as a parish councillor)

Liberal Democrat member Alan Rankin is the only other person standing for the seat.

Voting takes place on September 19 for people in villages surrounding Westbury including Bratton, Dilton Marsh, Coulston, Edington and Heywood.

As reported, former councillor Wickham, 58, died on July 23 after a three-year battle with prostate cancer.

The Conservative member had been tipped to become Wiltshire Council's new leader, but resigned from his role in the cabinet in May because he had been told his rare and aggressive form of cancer was not responding to treatment.

Paying tribute to him, the authority's new leader Councillor Phillip Whitehead said: "Jerry was a close friend and a fantastic colleague for many years.

As a councillor and cabinet member Jerry always put others before him and was wholeheartedly committed to his local community and Wiltshire."