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Southampton - Will voters tame two-headed beast?
IT will be the first test for the new "two-headed beast" that is running Southampton City Council.
And voters will have to decide whether they want to confirm a two-year Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition which seized power just two months ago, or back a Tory resurgence that has been growing both in the city and beyond.
Yet it will take a dramatic landslide for Conservatives to regain power after their opponents decided after almost ten years of a minority party governing the city that it was no longer the way forward.
Casting vote
Tories need to make eight gains to win an overall majority, but only need seven to wrest back power because they will enjoy the casting vote of the next mayor.
The improbable target means they have to win 13 of the 17 seats up for grabs - they have six councillors facing re-election.
The Conservatives have increased their number of councillors at each election in the past decade and last year won the largest share of the vote and seats.
Tory leader Alec Samuels said voters had a chance to give their first verdict on both Gordon Brown's tenure as prime minister and the new coalition - both of which he accused of incompetence.
He said many Lib Dem voters have expressed surprise at the coalition deal, and claims it was not in the best interests of the city.
"We now hear about rats leaving a sinking ship but it's unusual for rats to join one. Everyone knows that Labour is a sinking ship," he said.
Cllr Samuels claimed his group had a positive agenda, with young faces and ideas to boost business, create jobs, improve schools, help pensioners and vulnerable people, sort out roads and increase recycling.
Conservative campaigners are hammering home the message that residents have lost out on the prospect of the lowest council tax in the history of the local authority, a controversial ten per cent discount for pensioner households, and a council tax waiver for the city's special constables, which they claim could have attracted about 60 more of the volunteer police officers.
Facing a mid-term slump in popularity nationally, Labour will be aiming to at least hold their positions.
They are running a campaign highlighting services they saved from Tory spending plans - described by their leader Cllr June Bridle as "a massive attack on families". Tories had proposed £8m in cuts, with 99 job cuts.
Labour are reminding voters they averted funding cuts to play and family centres, and a sell-off of leisure and library services.
Keen to avoid any gaffes or controversial decisions before the elections, there has been little to measure their track record.
However, they were caught napping when they passed a parking policy to charge people to park outside their homes, which sparked a Daily Echo campaign.
One senior Labour councillor effectively claimed they had received a political ticking timebomb from the Tories.
Unable to scrap the widely unpopular policy for fear of a U-turn, they have been left to insist the policy won't be implemented.
They also have been shouting up their budget initiatives such as free swimming for all primary school children, free bus travel for pensioners, and "crackdowns" on yobs.
A top target for a gain will be another seat in Coxford, needing only a small swing to unseat the Lib Dem candidate.
Cllr Bridle is clinging to the slimmest majority in the city and faces a greater Tory challenge with the absence of a UKIP candidate.
But she said voters would recognise she was the only "Sholing person" standing and stressed it was local issues that counted.
"We're about ensuring local services continue for all residents. We value services families can access from nought to 90-plus, not slashing services to make sure a few people are happy."
She said Labour would protect services at a "quality and standard that could be afforded".
Stability
She added voters wanted stability of leadership and questions over the joint administration had not been raised on doorsteps.
Cllr Bridle attracted both the city's Labour MPs and a visiting minister to campaign in her ward and boost her chances by highlighting a campaign for more legally-enforced 20mph zones outside schools.
However, an extra £50,000 pledged towards the costly schemes were branded "tokenistic" by Tories and has yet to find its way into council's work programme.
Lib Dems, who had a terrible night last year when they dropped four seats and power, are now defending three.
They will be hoping not to lose another seat in Swaythling, where they were last year sent a clear message for ignoring public feeling over a proposed traveller site. Lib Dem leader Adrian Vinson holds one of the safest seats in the city.
He said he had received a positive response to a party "prepared to work with others and put the best interests of the city and its challenges ahead of individual party interests".
He said Lib Dems had an established record of delivering more money for roads and pavements, tackling antisocial behaviour and improving quality of life in neighbourhoods.
There was a clear agenda on both "environmental and social well-being", he said.
His party campaign has pointed to Tory cuts to road and pavements repairs and hikes they brought in for car parking, while trumpeting a Lib Dem motion that prompted a Tory retreat on cutting free bus pass times in the city.
Lib Dems will hope to regain the Peartree ward, which was comfortably won by Cllr Norah Goss four years ago. However, she broke ranks with her group to put the Tories in power last year in a surprise move to prevent a Labour return.
It has left her challenging as one of two independents.
Lib Dems have also been attempting to reach the city's student vote by opposing new ID cards which will be first foisted on students.
However, it is the Tories who are putting forward six student candidates, including the youngest, 18-year-old Itchen College student David Fuller, pictured below left.
Greens are hoping to make a breakthrough but are hampered by the main parties flexing their eco-credentials.
Southampton Green party candidate John Spottiswoode said the city should be doing more. He said the city should be exploring trams, park-and-ride schemes and city centre congestion charges, while backing microgeneration and home insulation initiatives.
Southampton First is offering an independent alternative with policies on better buses, pothole filling, litter clear-ups and a crackdown on poor landlords. UKIP are also fielding three candidates.
11:56am Tuesday 29th April 2008
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