Opinion: Local votes approach during tense moment for relations with Westminster

Local authorities are increasingly seen as an external group of agencies to be controlled rather than an inherent part of government, a feeling which has only accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Visiting Professor Janice Morphet (UCL Bartlett School of Planning). One of the key concerns about local elections is always their low turnout, unless there is a very specific community issue of concern, such as a hospital closure. This apparent lack of interest, by the electorate, in voting for politicians to run their councils has always been used by governments to undermine the relevance of local politicians when the latter make representations against national policies that directly affect them - planning, housing and major transport schemes. The larger turnout achieved in parliamentary elections is used to validate the idea that decisions are best made from the centre. Of course, the low turnout in local elections may reflect the public's understanding that local government's powers are small and can be easily overridden by Westminster and Whitehall. They may feel that there is no point in exercising a vote if it doesn't really matter. This undermining of locally elected political representatives and the role that they play in their communities has ramped up during the pandemic. And indeed, the 2021 local elections almost didn't go ahead. Some, including the London mayoral vote, have been postponed since 2020. Up until just a few months ago, there were doubts as to whether they could be held during the pandemic. Would they have to be full postal elections?