LABOUR held on to power in Falkirk last time round through a coalition with the Conservatives.

A back-room deal had to be hammered out when Labour landed 14 seats, the SNP 13, the Conservatives two and the independents three, making up the 32 five years ago.

Next week 60 candidates will challenge for a seat on Falkirk Council, with the SNP putting forward 15 names, Labour 13 and the Conservatives nine.

There are also 12 independents, nine greens, one Ukip and one member of Solidarity standing for a ward.

In 2012 Labour kept control of the former Falkirk heartland by striking the pact with the two Conservatives and one of the independents to form an unlikely coalition.

The SNP has been active in opposition at the council and called for an overhaul of administrative rules because change was being blocked at the authority, a claim denied by Labour.

Last year council leader Craig Martin, who held the post for the last six years, won a vote of confidence following SNP calls for him to stand down.

A motion put forward by the SNP’s Tom Coleman, who is standing next week, said there was “increasing concern with regard to this council’s management of public funds, in particular recent financial decisions that have caused damage to the council’s reputation”.

A ditched new council headquarters plan was dubbed a vanity project and cited as an example of the administration’s problems. Mr Martin said, however, Labour had led moves for 500 new council houses, more than 200 ex-council homes brought back into public ownership and over 300 socially rented properties built. He is not standing this time round.

Following boundary changes, the number of councillors needed falls from 32 in 2012 to 30 this time around, with Falkirk South and Grangemouth both cut from four to three.