Voters go to the polls tomorrow to judge Bradford councillors for the first time since the Coalition Government gained power last May.

It remains to be seen how the public will respond to a year in which local authority budgets have suffered significant cutbacks.

Labour – the largest group represented on Bradford Council – is defending 13 seats, the Conservatives ten, Liberal Democrats six, the Greens one and the British National Party one. High-profile seats set to be fought include Labour’s executive members Ralph Berry in Wibsey, Amir Hussain in Toller and Ghazanfer Khaliq in Bradford Moor.

Lib Dem group leader Jeanette Sunderland defends her seat in Idle and Thackley, as does the Deputy Lord Mayor, Conservative Mohammed Jamil, in Bowling and Barkerend.

Currently, Labour holds 39 seats, the Tories 31, the Lib Dems 13, the Greens three, BNP two and there is one Independent.

The Lib Dems had 14 seats but are down by one following the recent resignation of Idle and Thackley Councillor Ed Hall. It means there will be 31 seats contested tomorrow, including the by-election in Idle and Thackley.

The Tories, Labour and Lib Dems have candidates standing for all 31 seats. The Greens have 18 candidates, UKIP has four, the Democratic Nationalists have three and the BNP has one.

The electorate is also being asked to vote on the Alternative Voting system in a national referendum. Votes for the district election will be counted when polling closes with the results announced early on Friday.

The referendum count will begin at a regional centre in Wakefield later on Friday.