LABOUR’S dominant hold on St Helens is unlikely to be shaken at next week’s local elections – but could one of the minority parties make a break through to the town hall?

It is not unusual in a general election year for council elections to slip under the radar and this year has been no different.

But the campaigns nationally have drawn more focus on the likes of the Ukip and the Greens, meaning both parties could potentially benefit by picking up votes that could threaten the status quo.

John Beirne and Ian Smith, Ukip’s general election candidates, are standing in Parr and Haydock respectively and they are likely to be the target seats for their party, which achieved the second-highest share of the vote in last year’s Euro elections.

Haydock will be seen as a key ward as two Labour seats are being contested, with one a by-election following Cllr Bill Anderton’s death earlier this year.

The Liberal Democrats, who six years ago controlled St Helens Council under a power-sharing agreement with the Tories, are fielding candidates in just five of the 17 seats.

A litmus test to whether the party still holds support will be the Eccleston ward that is being defended by Michael Haw.

The Greens are fielding candidates in all 16 awards and after a visible campaign, led by their bright, young general election hopefuls, will aim to take voters from both Labour and the Lib Dems.

Labour’s town hall dominance is such, however, that whatever the outcome it cannot lose its grip on the town hall this year.

The current state of play: Labour 42 seats, Conservative 3, Lib Dem 3

Ward-by-ward:

Billinge & Seneley Green Collins, Judith Margaret (Con) Pearson, Joseph David (Lab) Peers, Peter (Ind) Rahman, Susan Elizabeth (Green)

Blackbrook Ashcroft, Nancy Jane (Con) Denny, Jean (Ukip) Finney, Ellen (Green) Maloney, Linda Lovina (Lab) Marsh, Sean (TUSC)

Bold Johnson, Anthony Albert (Lab) Oxley, Marcus (Ukip) Parr, David Norman (Green) Roberts, Marise Ann (Lib Dem) Woodcock, Barbara Evelyne (Con)

Earlestown Brown, Paul (Ukip) Deakin, Keith (Lab) Fraser, Ian (Green) Skeech, David Leslie (Con)

Eccleston Broughton, Stephen (Ukip) Cunliffe, John Philip (Con) Donnelly, Alison Jill (Green) Haw, Michael (Lib Dem) Roberts, Paul Frederick (Lab)

Haydock Ashcroft, Wallace (Con) Banks, Jeanette Susan (Lab) Bond, Martin James (Lab) Lavin, Robert (Ukip) Smith, Ian (Ukip) Van Der Burg, David Ian (Green)

Moss Bank Fulham, John Owen (Lab) Hart, Brian Terence (Green) Harvey, Margaret Hilda Ethel (Con) Shannon, Patricia (Ukip) Newton Dyer, Sandra (Lab) Honey, Brian (Con) Parkinson, Rachel (Green) Sherman, Mark (Ukip) Smith, David James (Lib Dem)

Parr Beirne, John (Ukip) Crimes, Paul Richard (Ind) Marsh, Mark Walter (Green) Roberts, Keith (Lab) Wilcock, Madeleine Patricia (Con)

Rainford Aspinall, Keith Peter (Lab) Jones, James Allan (Con) Parr, Anthony (Ukip) Robinson, Kevin (Green)

Rainhill Barton, Kathleen Sheila (Con) De Asha, Joseph Patrick (Lab) Gibbons, Harold (Ukip) Taylor, Laura Wendy (Green)

Sutton Fairhurst, John (Ukip) Johnson, Janet Elizabeth (Lab) Leonard, Gareth (Green) Spencer, Brian Thomas (Lib Dem) Whitehouse, Daniel Andrew (Con)

Thatto Heath Clarke, Damien (Green) Dutton, Alan (Ukip) Ireland, Patricia Irene (Lab) Rigby, Anthony Frederick (Con)

Town Centre Gill, Carole Ann (Lab) Hitchen, Mark (Ukip) Spriggs, Henry John Patrick (Con) Williams, Francis Joseph (Green)

West Park Barton, Richard William (Con) Bosworth, Paul (Ukip) Gathercole, Andrew Wilmot (Green) Quinn, Marlene Mary (Lab)

Windle Baines, David Edward (Lab) Knowles, Noreen (Lib Dem) Parr, Maria Alison (Ukip) Reynolds, Robert Stephen (Con) Shacklady-Smith, Ann (Green)