Use your vote
With the general election campaign dominating the news it’s all too easy to forget that across large parts of England and in all of London there are local council elections as well. Too often people use their local vote as though it was an extra parliamentary vote instead of voting for the local council they want.

Who controls local town halls has a more immediate impact on residents than who is in charge in Westminster. Local councils provide almost all the services that local people encounter. It’s all well and good sending a message to Westminster, but what has defence policy or the invasion of other countries got to do with libraries and parks, schools and street lighting, bins and swimming pools? These are the local issues that should be in mind when using your local vote.

Unfortunately, the political parties connive in this misdirection. Almost all the campaign literature I have received has concentrated on the general election, and there has been nothing mentioned in the televised leaders’ debates and election broadcasts.

More of us need to use our local vote to hold the local council to account and not as a referendum on the government. If you have two votes on 6 May, you should vote for who you believe will best serve you in the local council, and who will best serve you in parliament. They don’t have to both be the same group of people.
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The author will be retiring from politics in May after eleven years as a member of a city council.

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