If you thought the battle between Ed and Dave to run the country is too close to call, it’s got nothing on the choice between Geoffrey, Warren and TBC to run Brighton and Hove.

While the General Election battle has hogged the limelight so far, with high-profile politicians Ed Miliband, David Cameron, George Osborne, Ed Balls and Nick Clegg all visiting Sussex in recent weeks, the battle for control of Brighton and Hove has been just as fiercely contested – doorstep by doorstep, pavement by pavement.

And while the fates of parliamentary candidates could be decided by as little as 1,000 votes, council candidates could win or fall by just scores of votes and ultimately decide the lie of the council. In 2011, then Conservative cabinet member Jan Young lost her place on the council by only 40 votes.

And while the Greens gained just 1% more of the overall vote than Labour, they gained ten seats and Labour none.

On such small margins, local elections are won and lost.

Both leading opposition parties will have looked very closely at how the Greens micro targeted winnable wards and how they can replicate the magical formula of maximum rewards from the smallest of gains.

In 2011, the Greens were still riding high on the success of Caroline Lucas’s stunning victory in Brighton Pavilion and the feeling four years ago was one of genuine optimism and a new dawn for the city. Of its manifesto pledges made in 2011, achieving increased wages for public sector staff with the Living Wage has been a major achievement and, despite initial opposition, so in time will 20mph zones, with the rest of the country now eagerly falling in line on this.

Progress on big redevelopment projects were also cited as a key aim and while they may have started off slowly on this front, Circus Street and Preston Barracks sites are now in place and even King Alfred and Brighton Centre overhauls are progressing nicely.

Less successful has been the party’s ability to follow-up on big promises on recycling and food waste collections, while the short-lived meat-free Mondays were put paid to by workers’ desire for bacon sarnies.

Argus columnist Tim Ridgway wrote in the immediate aftermath of the Greens’ historic win of fears that big businesses would be “running scared” of the city, travellers in every park and how a party without any defined leader or whip would be uncontrollable.

While fears over the city’s economy have been unfounded, the worries over travellers and issues with party discipline have dogged the Greens’ first term. And in an era of politics where personality is as important as policy, it seems strange that the Greens enter this election without a figurehead to rally round, with current leader Jason Kitcat waving goodbye to local politics.

Children and Young People committee chairwoman Sue Shanks and planning committee chairman Phelim MacCafferty are heading up the election campaign, while finance head Ollie Sykes took on more responsibility with this year’s budget. But the party won’t elect a new convenor until after the ink has dried on ballot papers next month.

Although this is perhaps less strange from a party that distrusts the notion of dominant demagogue leaders and only appointed its first national leader, Caroline Lucas, in 2008.

Emotions will be quite different after a bruising four years in power which has seen the party eject two of its own members, endure long-running battles with striking binmen and constant critical scrutiny locally and in the national media.

Energies however might be revived by the resilience of the ‘re-elect Caroline Lucas’ campaign’ in Brighton Pavilion, which has given hope to Greens that not only might they hold what they have but still have the opportunity for more gains. Both Labour and Conservatives will need to win seats if nothing else to inject some new energy, fresh faces and fresh thinking to their own groups. Neither party has been able to fully capitalise on the Greens’ apparent failings in administration and positioned themselves as heirs apparent.

But the arrival of many new faces with the Greens in 2011 also meant a lot of novices having to learn on the job.

We are certain to see even more rookies brought into the council this time around and, with more multimillion-pound cuts having to be made, they will need to get to grips with the minutiae of local government pretty quickly.

The national picture will no doubt play a larger role now than it did four years ago, with the General Election sure to bring out more general voters. However, which party that will eventually benefit is difficult to say.

One party that probably hopes the national picture will be forgotten will be the Liberal Democrats who, in 2011, saw the end of the time as the fourth power on the council.

To recover that solitary seat again this time around would be seen as a major surprise.

And, of course in 2011 Ukip was barely a consideration, with its most successful candidate Barry Pinchen picking up only 310 votes and 11th place in Rottingdean Coastal.

For all its bullish talk, it would be another notable success if it could retain the one seat it gained from Leigh Farrow’s Damascene conversion.

Can any party break the run of minority administrations and end a stalemate that leads to budget brinkmanship every year?

It seems unlikely – but there is certain to be drama when the results are announced on May 9, whatever the outcome.

What the parties say...

Geoffrey Theobald – Conservative group leader

I believe only the Conservatives have the positive vision and dynamism to take this great city of ours forward over the next four years.

We are the only party that has the necessary conviction to reform the city council and turn it into the efficient, modern, common-sense organisation that residents deserve.

We are the only party that will reform our refuse and recycling service, put an end to the city’s unenviable reputation for ripping off the motorist and restore civic pride by returning to a beautiful Brighton and Hove.

It will be a tough challenge but I do believe that we can win enough seats on the council to be able to govern effectively on our own. But whatever the outcome, we have shown over the last four years that we will act constructively with other parties when it is in the best interests of the city.

Running the city council for the next four years will not be a poisoned chalice as some have suggested. It will be a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the economic success that has been achieved, with Government support, over the last few years and attract further investment to improve living standards.

By working positively with partners in the community, voluntary, public and private sectors, and with the other councils in the Greater Brighton City Deal area, we will help Brighton and Hove – its residents, businesses and visitors – achieve their true potential.

Warren Morgan – Labour group leader

Brighton and Hove needs strong leadership. After four years of bitter division among the Greens, four years of Tory drift and over a decade of minority control, our city needs a council with a clear vision and a majority to deliver it.

There are huge challenges ahead, one that I and the Labour team are keen to get to grips with. We need more affordable homes and more good-quality council housing, and action to tackle unscrupulous landlords and rip-off letting agent fees.

We need to help lift families out of poverty, with 45% of kids living in poverty in my ward and thousands in the city using foodbanks, it’s a scandal no one should ignore.

The Greens won’t hold on to power and the city can’t afford another do-nothing Tory council or a deadlocked three-way split between the parties.

Labour has new ideas and new approaches based on our values of co-operation and fairness. We won’t just represent the city centre like the Greens or the suburbs and villages like the Conservatives, but every street and every community from Portslade to Patcham to Saltdean.

On May 7 you can elect a council that works for you by voting for your local Labour candidates. As Labour leader John Smith said the night before he died: “A chance to serve; that’s all we ask.”

Sue Shanks – joint Green election spokeswoman

The Greens have achieved a huge amount for this city to be proud of, in spite of four years of unprecedented cuts in government funding.

We’ve brought in about £98 million in additional funding for numerous projects: improving parks like The Level and Stanmer Park, bringing empty homes back into use, making walking and cycling safer and more attractive and supporting bus services to be cleaner, more efficient and reliable.

We have unlocked long held-up projects like the i360, Circus Street, Preston Barracks, King Alfred and Waterfront projects, bringing substantial further investment, while also regenerating areas like the seafront, London Road and Lewes Road.

We have introduced the Living Wage for council staff and supported its uptake by over 200 other local employers. Our Green administration has been visionary and ambitious on behalf of residents and with an eye to our place in the wider world and the environmental challenges we all face.

We’ve also opened up council decision-making with a radically more transparent budget-setting process and a committee system which ensures all parties can play a full part.

The next four years will be extremely difficult for any incoming administration. Our legacy is one of fairness, regeneration, sustainability and a thriving local economy – that’s why we should be entrusted with another four years.

Jeremy Gale – Liberal Democrat candidate for Central Hove

The party’s overarching objective for the local elections is to ensure we once again have Liberal Democrat councillors on the city council.

In the areas in the city we have been working, there is a huge appetite for the policies we have decided to lead on in the run up to the election.

Liberal Democrat councillors will work to achieve a fairer approach to parking by scrapping Sunday parking tariffs, reducing the cost of residents’ permits by over 14%.

Not only would this lessen the financial burden for motorists, but it would also provide Brighton and Hove Bus Company with some much needed competition, leading them to reduce their Sunday tariffs and increase bus journeys in the process.

We would seek to pool best practices from Lib Dem councils from across the country who have achieved recycling rates as high as 64%; a far cry from the dismal 25% the Green administration has delivered.

And we’d also like to reduce the levels of congestion and pollution in the city by at least investigating opening up the bus lanes to private vehicles after 6pm and all day on Sundays.

Over the last four years, the city council has been devalued by not having Liberal Democrat voices in the Town Hall.

The elections on May 7 give residents across Brighton and Hove the opportunity to put this right.

Patricia Mountain – Ukip Hove and Portslade candidate for Hangleton and Knoll

We believe we have solutions to improve the city in many ways.

We will enhance the effectiveness of 20mph around schools, play parks, day care centres and hospitals but other 20mph zones that unnecessarily restrict traffic flow will be dispensed with. The bus lanes in Lewes Road will be deregulated during peak times.

Brighton and Hove City Council must improve the supply of affordable and social housing in our city, all empty properties must be brought back into use, bring in a levy of 50% standard rate council tax on abandoned properties and fast track planning applications for commercial to residential conversions.

With local referendums, residents will be able to contribute to all future major project decisions and Ukip will encourage supermarkets and businesses to contribute to food banks.

Ukip will also work closely with the police to encourage a more robust policy of enforcement regarding all anti-social behaviour to deter graffiti, use of pavements for reckless cycling and on-street drinking.

We will consider our local election campaign a success if Ukip candidates are elected to the city council chamber and have a voice. So far as aligning with other parties, we would consider all sides and arguments of all issues and judge on merit, whether or not, they are in the best interests of local residents. We plan to stand up for and listen to local people.

NOW QUESTION THEM AT OUR LIVE HUSTINGS DEBATE

TOMORROW we hold our Brighton and Hove City Council hustings.

Representatives from all the major parties will take your questions from 7pm at the Thistle Hotel, Brighton, hosted by Argus columnist Ivor Gaber. Free tickets are still available for the event from theargus.co.uk/debate2015.