When the elections take place today, a total of 17 councillors will be elected potentially tipping the balance of who controls the council.

For the past three years it has been under the control of the Conservative Party, which has a minority administration made up of 23 elected councillors.

The largest opposition party is Labour which has 17 elected councillors, followed by the Thurrock Independents with nine.

For the Tories to gain a majority in next month’s elections they will need to grab another two seats, giving them more than half of the 49 seats available.

Labour could also take control with a majority administration if they are able to gain another 8 seats, while the Thurrock Independents will need 16.

On the surface, it appears like a significant challenge for either of the opposition parties to gain control but Thurrock has a history of unpredictable elections with voters regularly swinging between the major parties.

The Tories have had control since the 2016 elections resulted in none of the parties winning a majority. It was the third year in a row the result had occurred as voters moved away from Labour, which had won a majority in 2012.

The failure of any party to win and Labour’s big losses caused Labour Councillor John Kent to resign as leader after the 2016 vote and Conservative leader Rob Gledhill was elected to replace him, giving the Tories control.

To take part in this year’s local elections residents must be over the age of 18 and registered to vote. To find out where your local polling station is and the names of candidates standing for each ward, head to Thurrock Council’s election website, at: https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/elections-and-election-results/election-dates