2. Antwerp. N-VA’s Bart De Wever seems set for a landslide win, but will it really happen? Sitting socialist mayor Patrick Janssens lags behind but may benefit from strategic voting. In short: All voters who do not want the nationalist De Wever as mayor may rally around Janssens.

3. The Christian-democrat CD&V calls itself the people’s party because of its strong grass roots support. Can it hold on to this status? Or will N-VA, whose local candidates lack the stature of De Wever, become the new people’s party?

4. Socialist SP.A is especially strong in cities, like Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Hasselt and Leuven. Repeating the spectacular 2006 results seems impossible, but just how red will these cities remain?

5. How big is the uppercut for Open VLD, whose voters in the last election tended to turn their backs in favour of N-VA? What does this mean for Open VLD president Alexander De Croo, who lacks credibility not just with voters but also within his own ranks? And what about Annemie Turtelboom: She is one of the few popular liberals left, but in Antwerp, she is fighting a war she cannot win.

6. Right-wing Vlaams Belang once attracted the attention of international media. Now it could well be wiped out, as De Wever lures away its voters, and the party desperately retreats to the xenophobic rhetoric of its olden days.

7. Wouter Van Besien and Meyrem Almaci have revived the greens to become relevant once more. Can Groen cash in on this, in Antwerp and beyond?

8. Every election holds a surprise. Which of the above hypotheses will turn out to be completely wrong?

9. It is not about the percentages; coalitions are what matter. Votes mean nothing if a party does not find a partner with a majority between them in the town council.

10. The aftermath. According to Bart De Wever, any Flemish dynamic is hampered at the federal level. He wants change, not just in Antwerp, but also in Brussels. The democratic revolt, he calls this. His eyes are set on the 2014 federal elections, but to win those he needs to win the local vote first. Will he? And if he does, how nervous will this make all the other parties, including the French speakers?