BOOSTED by a membership surge which followed the independence referendum, the SNP is hopeful that come next month it will seize control again of Falkirk Council.

Currently in the hands of a Labour, Conservative and Independent coalition, the local authority was briefly held by Nicola Sturgeon’s party from 2003 to 2007, propped up by an independent councillor.

But like elsewhere in Scotland following the September 2014 ballot, the SNP’s strength has soared in Falkirk, with the two constituency branches growing in total from around 800 to 4,500 members.

This army of grassroots activists helped deliver the country’s largest SNP majority — 19,701 — for John McNally in the 2015 General Election, and the second largest for Michael Matheson in last year’s Holyrood election in which the Justice Secretary beat his nearest rival, the Labour candidate, by 11,280 votes.

“The Single Transferable Vote system makes it difficult to get an overall majority but I’m hoping we will see the SNP back in control of Falkirk Council come next month,” SNP group leader Cecil Meiklejohn told The National.

“Labour is in a much weaker position than it was in the last council election in 2012 and I’m hoping that former Labour supporters will give their support to the SNP candidates.”

Like much of the Central Belt Falkirk used to be a traditional Labour heartland. Up until the 1970s the mining industry was the central plank of the area’s economy, and today the Grangemouth refinery, on the Firth of Forth is the biggest employer.

Tourism has seen a boom in the area in recent years.

The Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies are among the attractions bringing visitors in for day trips and longer stays.

Centrally located, and within easy to the M9 and M80 Falkirk’s population is growing and the area is also a popular place to live for people working in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling.

Out on the election trail the key issues voters raise are a mix of local concerns such as school places, bin collections and pot holes to the constitutional issues of the day.

The area voted quite narrowly to remain in the EU but SNP councillor David Alexander says he has come across many Leave voters who are now changing their minds.

“There is a lot of nervousness out there about Brexit,” he said.

“Even among people who voted Leave, people are telling me on the doorsteps it was more of a protest vote and they are now worried about the impact Brexit is going to have on jobs and worker’s rights.

“People are wondering why are we giving up EU membership and putting so much at risk?”

Fracking too is a big concern and opposition to it is playing a significant part of the Scottish Greens election campaign.

Firms like Ineos, which owns Grangemouth, and Cluff Natural Resources, are hoping to carry out the drilling in the area, but the Scottish Government has currently imposed a moratorium while scientific studies into its impact on the environment are undertaken.

Supporters of the process believe it would bring benefits in terms of jobs and energy security, but opponents fear damaging long term consequences.

Chris Marsh, one of the Scottish Greens lead candidates for Falkirk Council, said many voters he meets are concerned about the negative impact fracking would have on the house prices, and are worried about how it may contaminate the water table and increase air pollution.

His party has seen its membership rise in Falkirk since the independence referendum — and he believes the Scottish Greens could be a major beneficiary from the collapse of the Labour vote.

He is even hopeful that from having no presence ever before on the council the Scottish Greens could end up with a key role.

“We’ve never had a Green candidate elected in any position, last time we had no Falkirk branch and no candidates.

“Now we’ve got a very vibrant branch,” he said.

“We have candidates in all the main wards, compare that to Ukip with just one candidate and the Lib Dems with no candidates. There is a widespread expectation the Labour vote will collapse and we are looking very much to step into their shoes.”

He added: “While we are going at it from a standing start we are optimistic and there is a possibility a situation could arise where the SNP are the largest group but don’t form a majority in which case they will be looking for a party which with they could have common ground — I believe that is a strong possibility.”