Seconds out for second city fight

By Nick Parry
BBC News website

The Queen admired the wave machine at the opening of Swansea's LC

As Wales goes to the polls to elect new councils on 1 May, we profile some of the counties and key local issues.

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One of the big shocks in Wales at the local elections four years ago was Labour losing control of Swansea for the first time since the early 1980s.

Despite returning more councillors than any other group it failed to win a majority and was ousted by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Independents and, initially, Conservatives.

The party laid some of the blame on international factors such as the war in Iraq, but the sudden closure of the city centre leisure centre was undoubtedly an important local issue.

Almost a year after taking over the Swansea Administration, as it called itself, announced it would re-open the building, and following a £32m renovation the Queen cut the ribbon at the new LC last month.

Whether that - along with other flagship policies such as opening a civic centre including a new central library at county hall - will secure votes this time around remains to be seen.

There has been criticism of the pricing structure for leisure centre users and the amount it has cost to reopen the building.

Public transport may also prove to be a hot topic with changes to the lay-out of the city centre, in part to accommodate the proposed bendy bus.

The parties have also clashed over progress on the redevelopment of the Quadrant bus station and the health of city centre businesses.

SWANSEA COUNCIL Labour: 31 Liberal Democrat: 20 Independents: 11 Conservatives: 4 Plaid Cymru: 4 Non-aligned: 1 Vacant seats: 1

Both Labour and Plaid Cymru have criticised the running of social services during the past four years and the modernisation of the authority's IT infrastructure.

Midway through the Swansea Administration's first term in office the Conservatives pulled out of the coalition, which has since been made up of a minority of the city's 72 councillors - the 20 Liberal Democrats and 11 Independents.

It is the Tories who are fielding the most candidates this time around, with more than 60, just ahead of Labour.

The Liberal Democrats have just short of 50 and Plaid Cymru around half as many again.

In total there are more than 270 candidates looking for votes in Swansea with a large number of independents standing along with a small contingent of Green, British National Party and various left-wing candidates.

One thing voters in the city are being promised is that they should be among the first in Wales to learn how the candidates have fared.

Counting will take place in each of Swansea's 36 electoral wards rather than centrally as before with the results being collated at an election centre at the Brangwyn Hall after polls close on 1 May.