Eastleigh voters go to the polls on May 2 to decide who will wield power in the civic offices after the biggest borough council election since 1974.

Usually, the council is elected in thirds. But this year, all 44 seats are up for grabs and when nominations closed there were 133 candidates in the starting blocks.

Population changes around the borough have meant that the Local Government Commission has reviewed and changed wards to keep the number of electors represented by each councillor to roughly the same figure.

Although the number of councillors will remain at 44, redrawn boundaries mean there will be 19 electoral wards instead of the current 17.

The changes will also signal a battle royal in areas that have been split or have had the number of seats reduced.

In Eastleigh Central, five sitting councillors will be scrapping for just three seats and in Hiltingbury West four current members of the council will be fighting for two seats.

The new arrangements have also led to some current councillors moving to a different ward - but five faces will definitely be missing from the next council.

Veteran West End South councillor Don Horne (Lib-Dem) is not standing for re-election while Fair Oak's Andrew Cossey (Lib-Dem), Botley's Neil Cummins (Con) and Hiltingbury West's Michael Lambert (Lib-Dem) are all stepping down.

But perhaps the biggest shock is that Hedge End Wildern councillor George Fraser (Lib-Dem) is not standing. He was first elected to the council in May 1984. The main political parties are fielding full teams, except for Labour who are not contesting the two Hedge End Grange Park seats and are fielding only one candidate in West End North and West End South.

Current state of the parties is: Liberal Democrats 29, Conservatives nine and Labour six.