Last week, millions of people across England turned out to vote in some of the most important local elections in years. The first set of elections, since last year’s historic general elections, were held last Thursday and local residents had the chance to make their voices heard on key issues affecting their local communities.
Voters in areas with elections elected over a thousand councillors - representatives with power over transport, schools, culture, public health, waste disposal, and much more.
Collectively, these councillors will now control billions of pounds of public money, and will be making some of the most important decisions possible for their local areas.
It's for this reason that local elections matter. National politics certainly played a part, but they're not just opinion polls on the national government. Local representatives across Europe make some of the most impactful decisions on people's day to day lives.
In the UK, the Liberal Democrats place a huge focus on local government and local representation. The party is known across the country for being committed localists and community campaigners, who are visible in their local areas. Often even to a comedic extreme, with pictures of Lib Dem councillors pointing at potholes and frowning at messy bins becoming a common trope at this point.
As a local Liberal Democrat councillor in my local district of Huntingdonshire, I’ve been guilty of this behaviour myself on a few occasions. However, this type of campaigning helps me and my team to connect to key issues in our area. We show local residents that we care about the things that affect them everyday and, thanks to this, we get their trust and their votes. As a result of our local approach, we break through the political noise that unfairly favours the larger Conservative and Labour parties and ensure that our communities know that Liberal Democrats will deliver for them.
But, I hear you ask, why should liberals work so hard to get elected locally? What is the value of young people like me getting involved in local politics? There's three big reasons why I believe in the Liberal Democrats’ commitment to local politics, and three big reasons why having liberal local representatives matters now more than ever.
1: Successful local liberals can help hold back populists.
The English local elections were the first major set of elections since the UK’s general election last year, and take place with the background of an extremely unpopular national government and an ever-present far-right menace. Something which was borne out in last week’s results, which saw Former MEP Nigel Farage’s Reform party sweep seats across the country as the big winner of the local elections. In some places, Reforms far-right populist policy platform took them from having zero seats to winning entire county councils and regional mayors overnight.
Britain isn't unique in seeing right-wing populists getting this footing. Elections in France and Germany have seen these populists break through, and the UK may be joining them soon, if Reform can turn their recent local gains into national success.
But one thing that has held this back is liberals building trust with voters at the local level. In many parts of the country, residents will be picking between the Liberal Democrats and the far-right Reform UK party. Not because they swing back and forth between the values of liberalism and far-right populism, but because they have become tired of being ignored by the mainstream Conservatives and Labour parties. These voters are instead looking for a councillor who will focus on their local area and champion local issues.
Local government is the frontline for fighting the far-right in the UK. Where we work to prove to local residents that Lib Dem candidates are the local champions they are looking for. Through liberal solutions to key issues, a knowledge of local areas, and a dedication to delivering through local government we can offer a strong alternative to the descent into populism.
Whilst Reform UK were certainly the big winners of the night, the Liberal Democrats came in a strong second and won over 160 seats. We surged to victory in parts of Southern England where we had obliterated the Conservative party’s monopoly on power at the 2024 General Election; winning outright majorities on a record-breaking 3 county councils and holding the balance of power as the largest party in many others.
Even more crucially, in regions like Northern England and the Midlands where Reform did well, Liberal Democrats also produced a strong result. Consolidating our held council wards, and picking up seats alongside Reform in areas like Lancashire, Durham, and Lincolnshire. Whilst the Conservatives and Labour collapsed in the face of Reform populism, the Liberal Democrats held strong and won right across England.
The area I represent used to be represented by UKIP (Reform UK's de-facto predecessor party that brought about the 2016 Brexit Referendum). My Lib Dem team and I worked hard, got stuff done, and now it's represented by a pair of through and through Liberal Democrats, implementing liberal policy and improving lives. This is one way we can fight this tide - getting things done, building trust, and repeating this process. People turn to populists because politics doesn't work - so liberals getting stuff done locally and making the system work for people is vital to fight back.
In many areas where Reform won, it was the Liberal Democrat candidate who came a strong second. Under England’s First-Past-The-Post electoral system this means we are in prime position to take the fight to the populists. Whilst the success of the far-right might be the headline in England, liberals are also winning right across the country. With a strong and dedicated local focus, we can win back places that are in a similar position to one my local area once found itself in.
2: Local Government allows liberal parties to rebuild, renew, and survive.
Just under a decade ago in 2015, the Liberal Democrats were nearly wiped out. In a parliament of 650 seats, we lost almost all of our MPs, leaving us on just 8 seats. There was serious speculation that the party was gone for good.
What kept us alive was our representation at the local level. Our party, and liberals generally, have a good reputation for being strong local champions and this is something we used to our advantage to rebuild. Whilst we were in survival mode nationally, the areas where we did have good local representation allowed us to build back our credibility. We showed residents that we were competent by getting things done locally, and won back the trust of voters by showing we cared about them and their local areas. Our local electoral efforts also allowed us to maintain and grow our campaign infrastructure - winning and building on that success, year after year, election cycle after election cycle.
It was a long road, and hard work, but it paid off. Last summer the party won big at the general election, picking up 72 seats - the best result for a third party in Britain in over a century. Our dedication to local campaigning was certainly a key part of this success, as many of our new Liberal Democrat MPs were first elected as local councillors during our period of rebuilding.
Not only this, but as we won more and more local council seats, our parliamentary candidates were able to take on leadership roles in local government, which helped them to build a local profile and win the trust of voters ahead of the general election. This especially helped out our young candidates, like Josh Reynolds MP - the first ever Young Liberal to be elected as a Member of Parliament. His role as the local cabinet member for communities and leisure in Lib Dem-run Maidenhead and Windsor Borough Council helped him to build recognition and become a household name across his constituency.
Some liberal parties across Europe have found themselves in the situation the Lib Dems were in back in 2015. Things might look bleak now, but put the work in, and rebuild - as it can and does pay off.
3: Winning local power is a prize worth fighting for.
Local government is hugely important to people's lives. Even in the UK, which is a massively centralised country compared to the majority of Europe, we can implement a huge amount of liberal policy at the local level. Education, climate, equality, the environment, devolution, social care, and transport are all policy areas which we can make real, liberal progress on through local government.
I can point to firm examples from my Liberal Democrat colleagues across the country, including implementing 4-day week trials, calling for local tax reform, and the fact that the ten English Councils with the highest recycling rates are almost all Lib Dem-led.
Liberals across Europe can achieve massive things and change lives for the better through local government.
This is especially true for young candidates, who can offer important contributions to a wide range of issues. Whether it’s around issues that disproportionately affect young people, like education or housing, or emerging areas where young councillors offer an important perspective like digitalisation, young people have a crucial part to play. We have a key role in delivering liberalism for our communities and ensuring that the youth voice is heard at every level of government.
All of this points to one thing. As liberals, we need to take the initiative and build from the bottom up. Local success is absolutely vital to national success, and it gives us the opportunity to improve so many lives along the way. More than ever, we need a liberal Europe - and the foundation of that is young, engaged liberal councillors delivering for their communities in town halls across the continent.
So, if you're not already, get involved locally in your area. Organise. Get elected. Get stuff done. Young people offer a key perspective that must be heard at all levels of government and your hard work could make a vital difference.
*The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) alone. These views do not necessarily reflect those of LYMEC.
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