ALL the ward seats in a council chamber will be contested when voters go to the polls next month.

Since deciding to revamp the political map two years ago, Harrogate Borough Council has been working on new ward boundaries.

None of the old borders have remained and the overall number of wards has increased from 32 to 34.

But with the number of seats in each also subject to change, there are fewer overall to contest.

There are now just 54, compared with 59 when the electorate last went to the polls in May 2000, and, for the first time since local government reorganisation in 1974, every seat will be up for grabs.

With 39 councillors the Liberal Democrats hold the majority, ahead of the the Conservatives, with 19, and Labour, which has just one.

However, with five independents also entering the fray in crucial wards this year, the established parties could see their vote diluted, which means there is the potential for radical change within the council chamber.

Harrogate was a Conservative bastion until the early 1990s when the Liberal Democrats took control of the council chamber.

The party then went on to win the newly-formed Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency in the 1997 general election, when headmaster Phil Willis defeated former Conservative Chancellor, Norman Lamont.

But this year, it is Ripon which has proved a hotbed of political cut-and-thrust, even though the Conservatives' guns have now been spiked - at least on the issue of paid-for parking in the city centre.

The Tories had been hoping unpopular fees would win them votes - until the Liberal Democrat-led council said it would be scrapping them in the market place.

However, the Conservatives are already guaranteed one victory.

No one has come forward to stand against farmer, mountaineer and former Tory group leader Chris Brown, in the Wathvale ward.

As a result, he is the only candidate who knows he will be returning to the council chamber after voters have their say on Thursday, May 2.