With just less than two years until the April 2016 municipal elections, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk on Thursday announced the first three of an eventual eight candidates who will vie for Labor and independent-held wards.

It comes two months after he was endorsed by the party to again stand for the city’s top job.

Deirdre Thomson, 51, who lost the east side ward of Wynnum Manly to Labor’s Peter Cumming by just more than 750 votes in 2012, will once again take him on in 2016.

Newcomers Ashley Hall, 25, and Adam Allan, 54, will take on Steve Griffiths in the south side’s Moorooka and Kim Flesser in the north side’s Northgate, respectively.

But while the administration is moving early, Labor sources say pre-selection for both the lord mayoral challenger, as well as candidates for the 18 LNP-held wards would not be undertaken until later this year.

All seven sitting Labor councillors are understood to be renominating and recontesting their wards in 2016.

The LNP are yet to confirm which of their sitting councillors are recontesting.

Cr Quirk welcomed his newest Team Quirk members.

“These candidates are passionate about the local communities in these wards and I know that they will work hard to deliver for residents,” he said.

Deirdre Thomson – Wynnum Manly

Two years after she narrowly lost Wynnum-Manly, Deidre Thomson had no hesitation in putting her hand up again for 2016.

The mother-of-two has lived in bayside Wynnum for 20 years, 17 of which she spent working in the retail industry.

She left her job as a Brisbane City Council staffer three weeks ago to establish her own business, helping other small businesses with their business management systems.

“It was a big decision but something I really feel passionate about. My family are 100 per cent behind me, I am compelled to do this and make some changes,” she said.

Ms Thomson said chief among her aims if elected as the local councillor, was reactivating the Wynnum business precinct to maximise both the area’s economic sector and its tourism potential.

“We really need to revitalise the Wynnum CBD, it has deteriorated quite a lot,” she said.

“We want to encourage small businesses to open here, I think we can sell ourselves more to small business to come into the area and give it a go.”

Ms Thomson said she believed residents of the ward were ready for change.

“I can only try my best, people are wanting change here and, who knows, at the end of the day I can just try my hardest,” she said.

“I really think it will be about bringing some positivity to the area, positive change, a lot of talking up of the area and bringing more people here.”

Ashley Higgins – Moorooka

At just 25, Ashley Higgins could snatch Doboy ward councillor Ryan Murphy’s title as the youngest Brisbane councillor if elected in 2016.

But he is aware there is a steep mountain to climb first.

Labor’s Steve Griffiths claimed Moorooka by more than 3000 votes from LNP candidate Yasmin Khan in 2012 and, despite his youth, Mr Higgins said he has what it takes to succeed as a local councillor.

The Griffith University arts graduate who works as business development manager at his family-owned and operated traffic engineering company, moved to Salisbury from Ashgrove just three months ago.

However he insisted he has a long connection with the ward having been born on the city’s south side.

“The Moorooka ward is quite unique in that its a multicultural community and has quite a centralised environmental effort,” he said.

“I’d really like to try and make a difference, local issues are things you are actually able to deliver on, you can see where your efforts are and I know it’s Graham’s tag but council and local government now really do go beyond roads, rates and rubbish.”

Mr Higgins, who also holds a commercial pilot’s licence, said he intended to work part-time in his family business until the election so he can dedicate maximum time to talking to Moorooka residents.

“My first priority is really beginning to engage with the community, as a local representative,” he said.

“The next two years will involve listening and demonstrating how I can be most constructive.

“At this point in time it’s an invitation to people to give me their perception of local issues and whether or not there an opportunity there for Team Quirk.”

Adam Allan – Northgate

He’s the numbers man taking on Labor’s numbers man and, like Ashley Higgins in Moorooka, Adam Allan knows there is a huge task ahead to unseat Northgate stalwart Kim Flesser.

Cr Flesser has held the north side ward since 1997 but Mr Allan, 54, believes he can finally wrest it from him.

“I think I’d be naive to think it wasn’t a challenge, Kim has held that ward for about 17 years,” he said.

“But I just need to get out there and start working with the people and talking with people. It’s really about getting out there and really, really understanding the DNA of the community and trying to get them prioritised.”

The 54-year-old father-of three has both an MBA and 30 years of financial industry experience under his belt and believes he would be a valuable addition to an administration that prides itself on its economic management record.

Though he presently lives in Hendra, Mr Allan said moves to shift his family into the Northgate ward were already underway.

The Brisbane native said he has a long association with the ward, through schoolboy rugby league as well as grandparent connections.

“I’m keen to run now because the opportunity is there now, I like the way the council works closely for the local community, and work with the people,” he said.

“One of my real passions is engaging with people and getting outcomes.”

The managing director of Strategical, a boutique small to medium business advisory firm, said he looked forward to the chance to join the Lord Mayor’s team.

“I have heard nothing but very positive feedback on the Lord Mayor and the administration, it’s quite rare you don’t get one dissenter but he has a strong reputation,” Mr Allan said.

“I want to get out and understand the issues and get the context of the wider ward to deliver for the wider community.

“I’m looking forward to being in the local community to make some change because perhaps that ward has not been represented as strongly as it could have been.”