Volatile Yorkshire facing tight local polls battles

Thirteen elections will be held and other than Rotherham, where Labour enjoys a massive 35-seat majority, most will be tight contests decided by a handful of votes.

Experts have described the region's local elections as probably the most volatile in the country, with seven councils currently in no overall control and five with slender single-figure majorities.

The biggest is Leeds, where 33 seats are being contested. It is currently led by a Tory and Liberal Democrat coalition of 46 seats but Labour, which has 42, just needs to win three to regain power.

The Government advisory partner at KPMG in Leeds, Iain Hasdell, said history showed that local elections did not always follow national trends but he expected the economy at council level to be a big issue.

"The Yorkshire region is one of the most volatile parts of the UK," he said. "The unavoidable issue for all councils is how to address their productivity deficit. For the last 10 years productivity has gone down, while cash flows have gone up.

"Lots of people will vote at local level depending on which parties they think will best deal with that deficit.

"So you almost have a microcosm of what we had in the national debate on the economy."

People voting in the local elections will be able to do so at the same time as the General Election, but the counts will take place afterwards and the results in most cases are not expected until Friday afternoon.

In Sheffield 28 seats are being contested and the Liberal Democrats will be hoping that the national boost in the polls from leader Nick Clegg's General Election campaign will help consolidate their eight-seat majority.

Unlike the General Election, the debate on finances at the councils will be much easier to judge for voters as far more is known about their plans.

Mr Hasdell warned, however, that unlike Westminster where the new Government will be able to start work immediately, the electoral system of contesting a third of council seats over a three year cycle could cause short term planning.

He said: "Nationally the fiscal deficit is 65-70bn, the parties have only proposed what they are going to do with a small proportion of that.

"But at local level most of the parties have clear plans, there is much more detail available.

"The problem is that for a number of these councils seats will be up next year, therefore if they have small majorities or are in no overall control, they are unlikely to take decisions that could prove unpopular."

The Liberal Democrats currently run three councils and are in coalition with the Tories in Leeds, who run four other councils. Labour runs four and hold the most seats in Doncaster.

13 COUNCILS HOLDING ELECTIONS

Council Seats Contested Majority

Barnsley 21 Labour majority of one

Bradford 30 NOC (Tories running administration)

Calderdale 17 NOC (Tories running administration)

Craven 9 Tory majority of two

Doncaster 21 NOC (elected mayor running administration)

Harrogate 19 NOC (Tories running administration)

Hull 20 Lib Dem majority of seven

Kirklees 23 NOC (Labour running administration)

Leeds 33 NOC (Tory/Lib Dem coalition running administration)

North East

Lincolnshire 15 NOC (Lib Dems running administration)

Rotherham 21 Labour majority of 35

Sheffield 28 Lib Dem majority of eight

Wakefield 21 Labour majority of two