SO, just when councillors thought holding local elections in their own year would give them the full attention of the electorate, Theresa May goes and steals their thunder – and the vast majority of the media coverage - by announcing a general election.
Not surprisingly, there has been much talk of overshadowing in the last week, not to mention voter fatigue. But as we launch our final week of coverage and analysis of next week’s poll, there is not only much to play for at local level, but much at stake.
We should not assume that just because voters are weary – and we do not doubt that they are - they are not acutely aware of the importance of the local services they value and rely upon. Whether this means they will be moved enough to turn out and vote a week tomorrow is another matter, of course.
Turnout at local elections is notoriously low and there have been suggestions that the general election campaign may actually push it upwards. It will be interesting to see whether this comes to pass. Westminster is also likely to impact on the outcome, of course.
It is naïve to think that national concerns do not overlap with local matters and that voters are not influenced by a plethora of factors when considering which box to place their cross in. The issue of Scottish independence - specifically whether another referendum should be held - will inevitably play a major role in this poll. Brexit is also likely to be on the minds of voters. The electorate may also decide to use this local election to give their verdict on Labour’s Scottish and UK leadership under Kezia Dugdale and Jeremy Corbyn respectively; as a Herald report highlights today, the SNP is poised to take Glasgow City Council with a majority.
There have been calls in recent days for the electorate to put the general election out of their minds and focus solely on local issues when deciding who to vote for next week. Realistically, that’s not going to happen.
Regardless of what national issues influence the vote, however, and who ends up winning control of which local authority, the fact remains that every single one of Scotland’s 32 councils faces a gargantuan, arguably impossible task in providing good quality public services while balancing the books at a time of austerity and continued budget cuts.
The importance of these services – schools, social care, rubbish collection and potholes, culture and sport – for our families and communities cannot be understated, which means the quality of the people we trust to run them on our behalf , not to mention the £10 billion of public money we hand them, genuinely matters.
There is little glory to be had in running a modern council. The reality of the aforementioned financial constraints is already plain to see: cuts to services, job losses, reduced pay and conditions, workers threatening industrial action, complaints from service users.
No political party relishes such challenges, regardless of what spin their campaign leaflets may put on the situation. And reality will continue to bite. Make no mistake, any new brooms on May 05 will inevitably suffer the same headaches as the old ones.
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