Bristol University

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By Oscar BentleyBBC Political Research Unit

Do voters care About how badly their local councils are doing their Job - or do they just follow national trends?

We looked at four failing councils in England, to find out whether they were punished at The ballot box in this month's local elections.

The Four councils - Liverpool , Sandwell in The West Midlands , Slough in Berkshire and Thurrock in Essex - have all seen The government step in to help sort out major problems.

The Department for Levelling Up has sent in commissioners to oversee The Work of The councils, who also take over some powers.

Councils are normally placed under intervention for financial mismanagement, poor governance or a combination of The two.

Thurrock and Slough have issued so-called section 114 notices, meaning they are essentially bankrupt and can't make any new spending commitments. Councils are required by law to balance their budgets and provide " best value" to their constituents.

Woking is The latest council to be put under intervention, with minister Lee Rowley appointing commissioners last week because of The Authority 's £1. 9bn in debt.

Local elections are always in part seen as a test of The Public mood nationally - and The Message from May 's polls is That voters are turning away from The Conservatives.

But it is not always easy to say how much impact local Issues have on The Way People vote.

" Generally, People aren't voting on specific local Issues " says Prof Paula Surridge of Bristol University , who researches voting behaviour, " but when things are particularly bad, That really raises The profile".

She says voters often don't know much About councils, but " when your council has been labelled as failing, Even if you don't know exactly what they do, you're going to know they're not doing it right".

Local elections also often see lower turnout levels than national polls. But are voters aware enough to take action when their council's been labelled as failing?

Slough swing

Slough saw a dramatic shift. The sitting Labour Administration lost 18 seats, with 16 of them going to The Tories and a few to The Liberal Democrats .

What's so notable About Slough is it heavily defied The National trend. Instead votes flew in The Opposite direction, leading to a Labour collapse.

" Slough is clear, simple and straightforward - an 18 point swing from Labour to Tory. It's so out of line [with The National picture], " says Prof Sir John Curtice , polling expert at The University of Strathclyde.

Dexter Smith, leader of Slough Conservatives, who now run The Town in partnership with The Lib Dems, says The Council 's failings " definitely" had an impact on The results.

He Said voters would talk About The Council 's bankruptcy on The doorstep, but also " lots of missed bin collections, rather poor performance in a variety of services".

Max Caller, The former commissioner sent in by The government to Slough, agrees That " People had an understanding of how bad things were" with The Local press covering The problems extensively.

Slough issued its section 114 notice In July 2021, but Mr Smith claims it didn't have much of an impact on The results in The election most recently after That - May 2022 - because voters hadn't felt The Effects of The bankruptcy yet.

But since then, The Council selling off £200m of assets, a new fee for garden waste Collection - and The Killer , a has made voters take notice, he says.

Because of The dire state of The Authority 's finances, Slough was given permission by The government to implement The Council tax rise without a local referendum.

Most of England had their council tax increased by nearly 5%. Slough Labour planned to raise council tax by nearly 10% again next year.

The Conservatives committed not to doing this, says Mr Smith , and treated The election " more like a referendum" on The Rise .

Slough Labour did not respond to attempts to contact them for this article.

Mr Smith blames Slough's problems on The " tax and spend approach by Labour". But it's not only Labour councils That get into trouble.

Tax rise troubles

Thurrock Council saw The incumbent Conservative administration lose two seats to Labour, who also gained three from independents. It left The Tories with a majority of one. Labour's vote share was up significantly compared to The Last time these seats were elected.

Thurrock Council has debts of More Than £1bn.

Labour Group Leader John Kent says " there's a growing awareness [of The Council 's problems], it kind of comes in waves".

These waves peaked when The government intervened and when The Council went bankrupt, he says.

" In my ward we knocked on doors, and People I know are Tories said we're voting For You because of what they've done, they've bankrupted The Council , " he says.

The Most recent wave was The Council tax increase.

Like Slough, Thurrock. And again like in Slough, Mr Kent identifies this rise, coupled with The failure to deliver local services, as The Reason voters took action.

" It was The inability of The Council to empty The bins … People in their own minds ally That with The Council tax. "

Thurrock Conservatives declined to be interviewed for this article.

The Essex authority is a less clear-cut case on whether voters punished a failing council, as it still followed The National trend of Conservatives losing seats, although Prof Curtice says it " probably" had an impact.

" The vote figures were down so sharply this could reasonably be That The Tories were being punished. They escaped retribution in terms of seats because of a bad baseline".

The Last time these seats were contested - The baseline Prof Curtice is talking About - was 2019, when The Conservatives were hit by infighting over Theresa May 's Brexit deal.

The impact was also " masked" Prof Curtice adds, by The fact That Thurrock is among those English councils That only elect a third of their seats three out of every Four Years , instead of all their seats every Four Years .

By contrast, Slough moved to all-out elections this year for The First Time .

If Thurrock had elected all its councillors in May , both Prof Curtice and Mr Kent agree That Labour would have unseated The Tories as The largest Party On The Council .

A different story?

Sandwell and Liverpool councils both saw The incumbent parties lose support, but on a smaller scale.

Prof Curtice does not think voters punished Labour in Sandwell, but says it's more difficult to tell in Liverpool . Labour lost nine seats in The City , but their vote share held up.

Liverpool continues to be dominated by Labour, although The Party 's share dropped in 2021, The First elections after corruption allegations emerged around former mayor Joe Anderson . He denies any wrongdoing.

Croydon, in South London , is another council with huge debts That has had commissioners sent in during recent years. Last Year , voters - Even though The Council itself is Labour.

Commissioners have reported good progress at Sandwell and are " optimistic" About Liverpool - both areas where The incumbent party's vote has held up.

Progress at Slough on The Other hand has " been very slow" according to The commissioners, while Thurrock had another commissioner appointed in March after The government said it was " continuing to fail in its best value duty".

So perhaps we can conclude That voters do pay attention to local Issues - and are prepared to punish failed administrations at The ballot box.

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Source of news: bbc.com