RECENT history suggests that Monmouthshire is one of the most keenly contested areas in Wales with power being passed back and fore between the Tories and Labour.

In 1995, Labour took control, but the Conservative's had a majority in 1999.

This trend has continued since, with Labour regaining power in 2002 and the Tories triumphing in 2004.

In the last elections, the Conservatives won 23 of the 43 seats, with five independents, four Liberal Democrats and two Plaid Cymru candidates triumphing.

Labour saw its majority cut in half and took nine seats.

The Conservative party has announced that the chosen chair after the upcoming elections will be Sue White who represents Overmonnow.

This is if she is re-elected and if the Conservatives win overall.

Some of the biggest issues the council has faced in the last few years centre on recycling and waste management.

It has worked with neighbouring authorities and is striving to give residents in Monmouthshire and Gwent as a whole access to some of the best collection and processing facilities in Wales.

With rising recycling targets from the EU and UK goverment, Monmouthshire Community Recycling continues to explore the best ways of collecting business and domestic waste from the county.

With a high number of the population living in rural areas, this has provided the council with one of its biggest challenges.

In total, there are 43 councillors in Monmouthshire and on top of the eight that are not standing for re-election, there are a few changes.

James Harris is an independent who is currently councillor for West End, but he will be standing for the Elms.

Also, the seats of Conservative Val Smith of Llanbadoc, Conservative Peter Clarke of Llangybi Fawr and Conservative Bob Greenland of Devauden will be uncontested.

Of the 43 seats in Monmouthshire, 10 of them are currently occupied by women.

This is just below 25% of all councillors in the county and is a fairly significant figure considering that 100 years ago, there were none.

The council elections in 2008 represent another important milestone in that it is a 100 years since the Qualification of Women Act in 1907 allowed women to be elected on to borough and county councils and act as mayors for the first time.

It was designed to appease the pro-suffrage lobby, but the act gives women in local government a direct and real impact on policy.

The Monmouthshire contingent is slightly higher than the Welsh national average of 21% of women on local councils.

In total, there are 68,543 electors in Monmouthshire and 39,284 properties. The area with the most electors is Drybridge with 1,898 and there are a number of areas including Trellech Grange with less than a hundred.

It is a rural county made up of a number of towns such as Usk, Caldicot, Abergavenny, Monmouth and Chepstow. People working in the area are typically employed in agriculture and sole trader businesses.