THE voting public have been told they have never been in a more powerful position when it comes to deciding the political makeup of Exeter City Council.

Polls open today, with 13 seats up for grabs — and a few votes here and there could swing control of the council in favour of any of the three main political parties.

A total of 41 polling stations across the city will be open between 7am and 10pm. Votes will then be counted tonight and into the early hours of Friday morning.

And if all parties regain the seats they had, the makeup of the council would be 12 seats each for the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Conservatives.

The council's present leader, Adrian Fullam, said that with so much at stake he hoped the public would be more motivated than normal to vote in local elections.

He said: "It is so finely balanced, with each main party having 12 seats each if things stay as they were.

"It really is the most powerful position voters in the city have ever been in when it comes to the council.

"It could boil down to just a handful of voters who could decide who takes control of the city council. I will be out from dawn to dusk telling people how important it is to vote."

The importance of the election is reflected by the fact that all five of the Labour leadership candidates are coming to the city today to support their party's local candidates.

One of those in the running to be Labour leader is Diane Abbott, who said yesterday: "This will be a real test of the popularity of the Tories and Liberals and their popularity as a government.

"We've seen thousands of people come back to Labour since the election and during this leadership campaign, because they are disappointed with what the coalition has done in government so far.

"I think that the results of this by-election could be very interesting."

Seats are up for grabs as the elections that were due to be held in May were cancelled when the previous Labour government granted Exeter City Council unitary status.

They had to be quickly rescheduled when that decision was reversed by the new Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition Government.

Among those seeking re-election are the former leaders of the Conservative group, Yolonda Henson, and Labour group, Pete Edwards.

More than 11,000 postal votes have also been sent out to those who cannot make it to a polling station on the day and these must be received by 10pm today.

John Street, the city council's deputy returning officer, said: "While it's unusual to have elections at this time of the year, Thursday is an important day for the city.

"It's vital that as many voters as possible cast their votes."

For a complete analysis of all the results and what they mean for the future leadership of the council, don't miss Saturday's Echo.