 Before the election the council was composed of 60 Labour, 12 Conservative, 2 Liberal Democrat and 1 independent councillors.In the period since the previous local elections in May 2004, there had been two by-elections, in Barnes Ward and Millfield Ward (with seats held by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats respectively), and Doxford councillor Mike Tansey had left the Labour Party to sit as an Independent.In total 99 candidates stood in the election for the 25 seats that were being contested, with the Labour Party, Conservative Party and British National Party contesting every seat.