ALMOST 600,000 people will get the chance to go to the polls on Thursday, May 2 to determine who will lead Devon County Council and be responsible for key local services.

County council elections in England take place once every four years and all 62 seats in Devon are up for grabs.   

Devon County Council is responsible for 85% of all local public services in the county, including key services such as schools, roads and social care. Its total annual budget is over £1-billion per year.

The county is divided into 62 electoral divisions with one county councillor representing each division. The average population represented by each councillor is 10,000 people.

The last Devon County Council elections took place on June 4 2009. They were delayed from May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament.

The Conservatives took control of Devon County Council from the Liberal Democrats for the first time since 1989.

The Liberal Democrat administration had led the county council for the previous four years.

Prior to that, from 2001–2005, no party achieved a majority and the council agreed a power sharing arrangement with the first ever all-party administration in the county council's 120-year history.

The current political composition of the council is: Conservative – 41, Liberal Democrat – 13, Labour – 6, Independent – 2.