THE expectation was, that as it has done in its 21 years of existence, East Renfrewshire would have remained calm and carried on in the run up to and aftermath of May 4.

It may have been the scene of two of Scotland's biggest Westminster stories of the past two decades, the election and defeat 18 years later of former Labour leader Jim Murphy, but the local authority has, in the main, been a model of collegiate working and some humdrum politics.

A rare Labour and SNP coalition runs the 20-seat authority under the veteran Jim Fletcher and it has only been since the 2012 poll that the local Tories have become oppositional in their approach to council politics.

And where cuts have been required, despite some solid planning by the authority, political friction has followed.

Until this week the only spark in the local campaign had been an allegation by a cabal of independent candidates that the council's chief executive has broken electoral rules by using the three party leaders to promote voter engagement.

The decision by the head of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, Blair McDougall, to stand for Labour in East Renfrewshire has politically ignited the area, next week's outcome a fair bell weather for June 8.

Like East Dunbartonshire about 10 miles north across the Clyde, East Renfrewshire was a heavy No area in 2014 and came out heavily for Remain last year. These are the politics on the doorsteps.

But at a localised level the reputation and popularity of its high-performing schools is a major demographic dynamic. New housing developments are springing up across the authority, bring down the age profile and voters more inclined to the SNP or Labour than its traditional Tories.

It is also a massive cultural mix for so small a council. Attracted by the schools, it is now the destination of choice for upwardly mobile Catholics from Glasgow, it remains home to a significant Jewish population and the business and professional classes within the Muslim community is on the rise.

For the council this has meant a unique Jewish and Catholic primary school and a push for a mosque. Some prominent local Muslims believe it is also ripe for a faith school of their own.

The ore working class area of Thornliebank has a new owner-occupier class, while Barrhead has seen some improvements in housing and transport.

A local source said: "It's a place of rapidly changing demographics, even compared with the last local election in 2012. But where does this impact on the result? I can't see it being hugely different, with the three major parties possibly securing the same number of seats. The LibDems have disappeared and the new independents standing will likely be an irrelevance. It looks like more of the same.

"East Renfrewshire does well. It's residents know that. There's no huge appetite to rock that boat."