Given the election fever gripping our city’s politicians and activists, you’d think it was only weeks away. Yet no formal date for the election has been set.

Mind you, it’s the worst kept secret in politics that the ballot will be held on Thursday, May 6 - the same day as the local elections.

The local elections happen almost every year and you choose the councillors who represent you in the community.

The current make-up of Salford City Council includes 36 Labour councillors, 13 Conservatives and seven Liberal Democrats, with four independent councillors.

Three of them are currently grouped together.

The leader of the council is Labour leader John Merry, who represents Broughton.

The city is split into 20 wards with three councillors for each ward. The councillors serve terms of four years, and elections are staggered - held three out of four years.

So if you live in Ordsall, you’ll have three councillors - all Labour.

Councillor Alan Clague was elected in 2006, so he’ll be up for election this year.

Councillor Peter Dobbs was elected in 2007, and he’ll face the public vote in 2011.

Councillor Ray Mashiter was elected at the last ballot in 2008 and he’ll be up for election in 2012.

There will be no council elections in 2013.

Local elections in Salford are used to vote for the councillors who represent each ward in the city boundaries for the next four years.

Councillors can deal with anything from the running of the city's services - bin collections and road gritting - to longer term projects like regeneration and some benefits, like housing benefit or help with council tax.

There are 20 ‘wards’ in the city of Salford with around 6,000 voters in each.

In order to vote at the local elections, you have to be registered to vote.

Salford City Council updates the electoral register every autumn at the annual canvass but you can add yourself to the register throughout the year.

Being on the council tax list does not mean that you are automatically registered to vote, so it is worth contacting the elections office to double check.

To be a councillor, you have to be over 18; a UK, EU or Commonwealth citizen and be registered to vote in Salford, or have lived or worked there for a year.

You are not allowed to stand if you work for Salford City Council, you are bankrupt or have served a prison sentence. The local elections are likely to be overshadowed by the national polls but they are still very important to the local community.

The results will determine who represents you - so make sure you use your vote.

Next week we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the candidates from the main political parties - finding out what they will bring to the city. Due to the number of candidates there are, we will not be able to feature all of them in this issue, but we will feature them closer to the election.