South Essex voters will go to the polls today for what many are calling the most open local elections in years.

Pollsters are predicting a combination of protest votes and low turnouts with the fallout from failed Brexit negotiations still unknown.

On Southend Council 17 seats, one in each ward, are up for grabs meaning both the power balance and overall control could change.

The Conservative Party has had majority control of the council for 15 of the past 19 years and only lost control of the administration between 2014 and 2016 when a coalition between the Independent Group, Labour and Liberal Democrats took over.

But the party came back with a strong victory in the elections last year resulting in them controlling 28 of the borough’s 51 seats.

Their closest rival is Labour which holds only 11 seats, followed by the Independent Group with eight, Liberal Democrats with two and an independent councillor who holds one.

Earlier this month, council leader John Lamb warned feedback on the doorstep has not been encouraging and all the wards are “at risk”.

He said the blame lies with the Government’s handling of Brexit, which he labelled an “absolute mess”. The concerns were echoed by senior Tories nationally who said this week that the party will face a “difficult” night.

Tory peer Lord Hayward said he expected the Conservatives to lose more than 800 councillors and “marked losses of control of authorities” while Labour could gain up to 300 seats.

For Labour to achieve a majority in Southend, they will need to achieve the unlikely result of 15 extra seats. Instead, the likely outcome if the Tories were to be voted out would be some form of coalition similar to the one formed in 2014.

Labour Councillor Matt Dent said: “What happens will depend on the numbers and if you look at the numbers with an objective view it is very unlikely that Labour would have a majority on Southend Council.

“There would have to be some sort of cooperation between parties but the form of it and who that would involve, will depend on how the numbers come out.”

Mr Dent went on to admit that he has heard voters talking of political fatigue over Brexit but the party is “confident” it will have some success on Thursday because discontent also lies with local issues.

He said: “Brexit is a bigger motivating factor for Conservative voters than it is for other parties. On the doorstep I’ve not had as much mention of it as some of the media coverage would indicate.

“From my point of view there has been a lot of disquiet about the direction of the town.”

Elections will also be held for seats on Basildon, Castle Point and Rochford Councils.

To take part in this year’s local elections residents must be over the age of 18 and registered to vote.

To find out where your local polling station is and the names of candidates standing for each ward head to the relevant council website.

The Echo will be running a live blog on the results as they come in with reporters at each of the south Essex counts before an eight-page special in Monday’s newspaper.