This 350ft tower is planned for Swansea's maritime quarter

Labour, which has been the ruling party with 44 of 72 seats, will focus on the city's new and up and coming developments.

Prominent among these are the White Rock stadium, National Pool of Wales, Maritime Museum and SA1 in the maritime quarter.

But the opposition parties look likely to try to make capital out of the sudden closure of the leisure centre.

It has been a hot topic since the doors shut in November, over the estimated �14m it would have cost to repair the building.

It would take a major political shift for a single party other than Labour to form an overall majority at county hall.

Swansea is traditionally a stronghold for the party, which provides all the city's MPs and directly-elected AMs.

At county council level the Liberal Democrats have been the second largest party with 11 seats.

There are eight Independent members, four Conservatives, three Plaid Cymru councillors, one non-aligned and one seat is vacant.

Leafy suburbs

The council is one of the largest in Wales, providing services for more than 220,000 people.

Wales' second city is surrounded by sea on two-thirds of its boundary, and is also one of the more diverse areas.

From the leafy suburbs of the west and golden beaches of Gower to the former industrial powerhouse of the lower Swansea Valley it was famously called an ugly lovely town by hometown poet Dylan Thomas.

Swansea made a spirited if unsuccessful bid to house the Welsh assembly, losing out to Cardiff, its neighbour - and sometime rival - 40 miles east.

But as Cardiff has boomed in recent years, so Swansea has undergone its own revival.

Its redeveloped docklands area should soon boast the tallest residential building in Wales, and the White Rock stadium is due for completion for the 2005/6 season, when it will be home to Swansea City Football Club and the Ospreys regional rugby team.