ON the basis of an afternoon's canvassing with Steven Purcell in his own backyard, there is a different election battle going on there than that being fought by his political rivals on the wider stage.

Much is made of the Glasgow council leader's presidential style of running Scotland's largest local authority, his agenda of outsourcing public services, including the nation's largest civic art collection, and even his personal life.

But while for some the council election is a referendum on Mr Purcell, in Blairdardie the issues are broken fences, speeding cars, cramped living conditions, smoking at bus stops and even trees blocking the sunlight.

Only once does the word "politics" crop up: when an elderly constituent warns Mr Purcell the SNP are "living in cloud cuckoo land" before voicing her dissatisfaction with the refuse collection.

It is more a door-to-door surgery than run-up to an election which will alter the political make-up of Glasgow more than at any time since the mid-1970s.

Come May 4, for only the second time in its history, the SNP will have a significant presence in local government in Glasgow, the only other occasion being two years in the late 1970s when it had 16 members.

The single transferable vote system and the creation of 21 multi-member wards has created the potential for Labour to lose the total control it has enjoyed since 1979. It will certainly bring to an end Labour's last great monolith in Scotland, and will create a genuine opposition in Glasgow for the first time in decades.

From 71 councillors in 2003, Labour has just 53 candidates this time. Based on its share of the vote in 2003, just over 50%, and even with Labour fatigue, the party is optimistic of securing around 44 seats of 79, giving it an overall majority. Only a spectacular collapse would bring the tally to under 40.

In a city with no history of joint administrations, the only likely coalition is a Labour-LibDem partnership, leaving the SNP to spend at least four more years in opposition. A disparate bunch of fundamentalists, housing campaigners, and party establishment figures, it could be quite a job keeping the group together.

The SNP is standing 22 candidates, a strategy even some Labour sources believe is a serious under-estimation of the Nationalist support in Glasgow. But SNP group leader John Mason believes it is a realistic total for a party with four councillors at present.

The LibDems are also fielding 22 candidates, but its chances of returning all are distinctly less. Observers reckon six seats is a realistic scenario.

The LibDem candidate list is the expected mix of retired teachers and academics, but the council could have its first science fiction author as an elected member. Dr Christopher Mason, the party's leader on the council, refuses to speculate on the future, although he is all but guaranteed another term.

The Tories, who in 1979 ran a minority administration in the city and once had heavyweights like Teddy Taylor stomping around the city chambers, will be hoping to improve on the solitary representative they have had for the last two terms.

Unlike the sole Tory at Holyrood, Bill Aitken, the profile of the council's Conservative, Alan Rodger, is non-existent. Three seats are considered achievable, with Newlands, Pollokshields and the Jordanhill area all Tory targets.

The fall-out from last year's split within the ranks of the Scottish Socialist Party has thrown up an interesting side show, with the party's Keith Baldassara taking on his former best pal Tommy's mum, Solidarity's Alice Sheridan.

The Greens are also fielding 21 candidates, while maverick Hillhead independent Niall Walker could also be returned.

For Labour, the campaign is all about the divided nature of Glasgow, the engine room of the west of Scotland's economy but a city with the highest level of deprivation in Scotland.

Mr Purcell's reform agenda is unfinished business, while his flagship pledge is on education and training, with a promise to create 1000 apprenticeships and cap school meal charges.

His party can also point to record levels of investment, a growing international profile, and a gradual gnawing away at the legacy of the industrial past - bad health, poverty, dereliction and addiction. While far from as confrontational as his predecessor Charlie Gordon, now MSP for Cathcart, Mr Purcell has clashed with Holyrood on issues from support for the city's failed casino bid to local government funding.

Cheer-leading and pork-barrelling are appreciated qualities in a Glasgow politician. But his support, while still strong within the council's Labour group, has taken a bit of a kicking due to the council's equal pay dispute with the major unions, which continues to drag. The hiving off of council departments has also not gone down well with many trade unionists.

The Nationalists are also targeting the sacred cow that is Clydeside regeneration, claiming too much money and emphasis is being poured into glamour projects at the expense of community needs and projects.

The LibDems are attempting to move away from their sandal-wearing, vegetarian image, with a pledge on the environment, as well as some radical proposals on school discipline.

Both continue to oppose the creation of a new charitable trust to run the city's museums, galleries and municipal sports facilities.

The cull of councillors within Labour's ranks will see many a well kent face depart the city chambers for good. Former Lord Provosts Susan Baird and Alex Mosson are off, along with Malcolm Green, the longest serving member on the authority, and Jimmy Mutter, John Moynes and John Lynch.

Despite failing to set the heather alight, the SNP has selected Pollokshields East councillor Bashir Ahmed on its list.

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