In the red corner with 25 years of politics under her belt is Labour's Coun Sandra Holland.

She currently chairs Doncaster Council's Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, is a governor for Northcliffe School and a Conisbrough and Denaby ward member.

And in the blue corner stands Jonathan Wood, a former vice consul at the British Consulate-General in Chicago who represented Yorkshire and the UK government before returning to England to pursue his political career in his home town.

Coun Holland lives in Sprotbrough and Coun Wood is a ward member for Sprotbrough and has a home in High Melton. The councillors are the only two candidates declaring themselves in the running for the most powerful job in Doncaster, for which an election will be held next
summer.

Coun Wood was voted into the Sprotbrough Ward at this year's May elections with the largest percentage Conservative vote across the borough. On his possible Mayoral role, he said: "The thought of having a significant involvement and making a positive difference in my home
town would be both an honour and a great challenge."

Coun Holland, 54, has a longer history in local politics and has been an active member of the Labour Party, holding influencial roles from women's officer to political education officer and parliamentary assistant to Caroline Flint MP.

She hopes to be Doncaster's first female Mayor and added: "I do not underestimate the size of the challenge and the tough problems Doncaster faces, but together we can tackle these and put Doncaster on the map for the right reasons."

Each have plenty of political background, holding many posts and have the community in mind with everything they do, and when it comes to their policies the people of Doncaster feature heavily in their
manifestos.

Coun Holland named services for the elderly as one of her priorities, along with rubbish collection, grass cutting and the council's level of customer service.

She told the Newsletter: "We need to do everything we can to help
people through the tough times ahead.

"We cannot tolerate deprivation in our community - we have to break the cycle by raising educational standards, providing more jobs and social housing, and tackling anti-social behaviour."

Coun Wood, 41, also sees a desperate need for change but says
he would start by helping the economy and regeneration of Doncaster and rebuilding the reputation of the borough as a thriving business community.

"By placing the priority on improving the local business environment, we can looked forward to creating more jobs, better schools, improved public services and more recognition of the fact that Doncaster is a great place to live and work," he said.

Both candidates will be hoping that by the final bell at next year's final election, it will be their arm raised to take the title of Mayor of Doncaster.

Five things you may not know about Sandra Holland:
1) She has worked for an International Trade Union in Brussels
2) She was a Sprotbrough parish councillor for four years
3) She has helped secure many community projects including a new Youth Centre in Conisbrough and Denaby
4) She spent eight years as vice chairman of the South Yorkshire Ambulance Service board
5) She was kicked out of her school choir for being tone deaf!

Five things you may not know about Jonathan Wood:
1) He started a small property company when at University
2) He spent nine years working for the Government's Dept of Trade and Industry and Foreign Commonwealth Office
3) He is currently the vice chairman of Doncaster Council's Economy and Enterprise Panel
4) He was awarded the Key to the City of Louisville for his community work in the US
5) Most recently he has campaigned to help save Clayton Post Office