THE race for votes has begun, following the announcement of the candidates standing in this year's local elections on May 4.

The official list of those standing for the 22 seats up for election in Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council were published on Monday, April 2.

The nominations for 12 seats on Hart District Council, including the Hartley Wintney, Hook and Long Sutton wards, were also announced this week.

At Basingstoke and Deane, candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and the Green Party, as well as one Independent, will be vying for votes.

The Conservatives will be aiming to take back control of the borough council for the first time since the 1995 elections.

The borough elections this year include two by-elections following the resignations of two Liberal Democrat councillors - Ian Powney, who represented Popley East, and Gill Nethercott, who represented Whitchurch.

The two seats have been left vacant until electors decide on May 4.

Of the 58 remaining seats on the borough council, 28 are held by the Conservatives, and only 27 are now in the hands of the joint Labour/Liberal Democrat administration. Three seats are held by Independent councillors.

Control of the borough council was left on a knife-edge after the last elections in 2004, when four Independents held the balance of power between the equal numbers of Conservatives and members of the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition.

The picture changed slightly with the defection to the Liberal Democrats of Cllr Powney, who had been elected in a shock win over then council leader Councillor Rob Donnelly.

This year's borough elections will also signal the departure of three Conservative councillors, who will not be contesting their seats on May 4. These councillors are Cllr Alan Denness, who represents Kingsclere, Cllr Andy Hewitt, who represents Burghclere, and Cllr Michael Ross, who represents East Woodhay.

First published: Thursday, April 6, 2006