Local Elections 1 May are fun!

I've been looking at the choice of candidates for the forthcoming elections. What fun!
Candidates list themselves as "Local Conservatives" - is this an attempt to distance themselves from the "National Conservatives"?
6 candidates give Durham University addresses (4 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem, 1 Labour). Is this because they are University lecturers with too much time on their hands, or because the parties have had to resort to cradle-snatching?
Which raises a far more important point. How many democratically elected candidates have actually done a real job, have seen what it is like in the real world? How many have had to live within their means, instead of doing a Derek Conway and taking public funds for members of their family (but of course, he was "underpaid as an MP" so he deserved it)
It seems they go from studenthood to parliamentary researcher to candidate to member of parliament or other council with no real work in between. And they can shortcut the system by fighting a few losing elections whilst they are still students! We pay for all this!