It’s local election time again. Normally that’s a cue for me to write a column emphasising the localness of local elections. I argue against the temptation to read local elections as a glorified opinion poll for national politics and emphasise the importance of the decisions that the councillors elected will be taking locally.
That’s all true of course. But this year, of all years, it’s hard to deny that national politics will cast a very heavy shadow over this set of locals.
Certainly, reports from the doorstep are that voters are focusing very heavily on national issues, but the message that these elections send about national politics may be hard to interpret.
Given the profile of the councils where elections are happening and the fact that many are electing in thirds, we’re unlikely to see large numbers of councils changing control, though it will be worth watching some of the more finely-balanced unitaries that have all-out elections such as York, Brighton, Bedford or Stoke on Trent.
