Last day of election campaigning

By Guto Thomas
BBC Wales political correspondent

Only ten councils have a single party with an overall majority

Politicians are spending their last full day of campaigning for elections to councils across Wales.

Thousands of candidates are standing for more than 1,200 seats on 22 county councils, as well as town and community councils.

As parties and candidates make their final push for votes, returning officers are preparing polling stations for voting from 0700 BST on Thursday.

Votes will be counted both overnight on Thursday and on Friday morning.

With Labour halfway through a third term in government in Westminster, and the Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition almost a year into their Welsh Assembly Government coalition, voters in every part of Wales will have an opportunity to pass judgement on the performance of all the parties.

In the absence of any opinion polls, any patterns in Welsh voter behaviour will therefore be watched with great interest.

WHO RUNS WELSH COUNCILS Blaenau Gwent: Labour Bridgend: Liberal Democrat / Conservative / Plaid Cymru / Independent Caerphilly: Labour Cardiff: Liberal Democrat Carmarthen: Labour / Independent Ceredigion: Independent / Liberal Democrat / Labour Conwy: Independent / Conservative / Plaid Cymru / Liberal Democrat Denbighshire: Independent / Conservative / Plaid Cymru Flintshire: Labour Gwynedd: Plaid Cymru Merthyr: Labour / Independent Monmouth: Conservative Neath Port Talbot: Labour Newport: Labour Pembrokeshire: Independent Powys: Independent Rhondda Cynon Taf: Labour Swansea: Liberal Democrat / Independent Torfaen: Labour Vale of Glamorgan: Labour / Plaid Cymru / Independent Wrexham: Liberal Democrat-led Board Ynys Mon: Anglesey Forward / Radical Independents

Labour holds or shares power on nine Welsh county councils, Liberal Democrats on six, Plaid Cymru five, Conservatives four, and independent or other groups on 11.

But these elections are more important than providing a snapshot of public opinion.

This is primarily because these elections will decide who will control the expenditure of nearly £4bn next year - which over the next four years of local government will approach a grand total nearing £20bn.

Window of opportunity

With control over schools and social services, recycling and refuse collection, as well as council tax, planning applications and leisure centres, the question of "who's in control?" is something that has an implication for everyone in Wales.

In the not too distant past, local council elections in Wales were often all too predictable - with Labour in long-term control of most local authorities.

But in both the 1999 and 2004 elections this pattern began to unravel, as more councils slipped into a position of no overall control - opening a window of opportunity for a new kind of coalition politics in Wales.

In 2004, there were only 10 councils where one political party won enough of a majority to claim overall control.

Many of these have been left particularly vulnerable to further changes or swings in public opinion on the 1st of May.

Meanwhile,the election in the Hope ward on Flintshire Council has been postponed following the death of one of the candidates, Stuart Brown.

Returning officer Colin Everett said: "Our thoughts and condolences go to Mr. Brown's family at this sad time."

"When a new polling date has been set the whole election process will begin again for the Hope electoral division."

Elections have also been postponed in two wards in Newport, St Julians and Betws, after the deaths of councillors.