It’s an exciting local election year, with the Conservative party currently controlling Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council by one seat - and there are 18 up for grabs.

On May 2, voters will go to the polls to decide who will represent them at the council.

Welwyn Hatfield’s battleground has been dubbed ‘one to watch’ because the majority is currently so slim.

Currently, the Conservatives hold 25 seats, Labour hold 15 and the Liberal Democrats hold eight.

A majority is key to getting policies enacted, and if the Tories lose overall control it would have to share seats on the Cabinet.

Each of the borough’s 16 wards has three seats, and every election one seat out of the three comes into rotation and can be contested.

In addition, two councillors have stood down, meaning even more hats have been thrown into the ring.

• What do my borough councillors do?

Borough councillors take care of many local issues such as town planning, recycling and bin collections, a portion of your council tax, parking, social housing, business rates, leisure facilities, and some benefits.

But there are many issues, such as schools governance, fire service and social care, that are largely handled at county level.

• How to vote

The deadline to get on the electoral roll in time for the elections has now passed.

However if you’re already on the electoral roll you should have received your polling card.

An administrative hiccup earlier saw 10,000 polling cards with the wrong wards on them get sent to the borough’s residents.

The council has sent out corrected cards, but to remove any doubt you can check here: www.welhat.gov.uk/elections/poll-cardsYou don’t need to take your polling card with you to vote.

• Who’s standing?

For each ward we’ve put the candidates in alphabetical order.

We’ll have a full guide online soon with each candidate’s pitch to you.

Brookmans Park & Little Heath

• Graham Beevers (L)

• Jonathan Boulton (C)

• Louisa Noel (LD)

Haldens

• Berenice Dowlen (G)

• Barbara Fitzsimon (C)

• Darrell Panter (LD)

• Jason Robinson (L)

Handside

• Anthony Dennis (LD)

• Ian Nendick (G)

• Martin Norman (L)

• Chieme Okuzu (C)

Hatfield Central

• James Bond (C)

• Adam Edwards (LD)

• Glyn Hayes (L)

Hatfield East

• Ed Boulton (C)

• Jackie Brennan (LD)

• Ian Gregory (G)

• Caron Juggins (C)

• Phil Knott (L)

• Gemma Moore (LD)

• Cathy Watson (L)

Hatfield South West

• Jack Adams (C)

• Simon Archer (LD)

• Lenny Brandon (L)

• James Broach (L)

• Aaron Jacob (C)

• Paul Wilson (LD)

Hatfield Villages

• Margaret Eames-Petersen (L)

• Matt Quenet (LD)

• Drew Richardson (C)

Hollybush

• Margaret Birleson (L)

• Chris Corbey-West (LD)

• Anthony Musk (C)

Howlands

• Konrad Basch (LD)

• Darren Hughes (UKIP)

• Stan Tunstall (C)

• Jill Weston (L)

Northaw & Cuffley

• Sheila Barrett (L)

• Robby Durrant (LD)

• George Michaelides (C)

Panshanger

• Jayne Quinton (LD)

• Kyle MacLeod (L)

• Iain Mansfield (C)

Peartree

• Tony Bailey (C)

• Jayne Ranshaw (LD)

• Steve Roberts (L)

Sherrards

• Hilary Carlen (L)

• Patricia Mabbott (C)

• Frank Marsh (LD)

• Paul Naughton (UKIP)

• Lesley Smith (G)

Welham Green & Hatfield South

• Darren Bennett (C)

• Jaida Caliskan (LD)

• John Eames-Petersen (L)

Welwyn East

• Josh Chigwangwa (L)

• Helen Harrington (LD)

• Roger Trigg (C)

Welwyn West

• Tim Hogan (G)

• Tony Kingsbury (C)

• Ian Merison (L)

• Christina Raven (LD)