The election section

The whys, whats and wheres of next month's local elections

It’s time to talk local elections.

And if that sentence makes you want to run screaming into the hills, then you can at least take comfort in knowing that you’re not the only one. Voter apathy around local elections has been growing for years, trust in politicians is lower than it’s ever been (and that study was done before ‘partygate’), and people are increasingly looking towards direct action and activism over the polling booth.

And it’s not just voters who are struggling to care about these elections. According to analysis seen by the London Communications Agency “all the parties are fielding fewer candidates in London overall than in 2018” and “in some places the ‘churn’ of exiting incumbents is remarkable.”

One of the main reasons for voter apathy around local elections is they’re viewed as being too complicated and it’s not hard to see why. When we spoke to Jenna Goldberg from the London Communications Agency back in February, she talked about the “mess” that is London governance a…