The Conservatives will officially be launching their campaign for May’s local elections at an event in Buckinghamshire tomorrow.
They’re expected to roll out a new slogan: “Lower taxes, better services.”
The new slogan will be the arrow point of a wider pitch that will aim to maximise public grievance over cuts to the winter fuel payment, and cuts to the agricultural inheritance tax relief – and to highlight, as much as possible, examples of ‘failing’ Labour councils.
The Conservatives are setting out to defend the seats they won during May 2021’s local elections, which took place close to the high water mark of Boris Johnson’s popularity following his 2019 general election landslide. Accordingly, a Conservative Home poll of party members last week showed that almost half of the Tory faithful believe the party will perform poorly this time around.
Up for grabs are all seats at 14 county councils, seven unitary authorities, and one metropolitan borough council – Doncaster- as well as the Isle of Scilly and City of London councils.
In a number of additional areas, elections were slated to go ahead, but have been delayed pending agreements on devolution and reorganisation, following the government’s local government white paper.
There are also four combined authority mayoralties that will be decided at the ballot box, two of which – Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire – are new.
It’s expected that current Conservative council seats will be threatened by both Labour and Reform, who are expected to make gains. The Greater Lincolnshire combined mayoralty is thought to be ripe for the taking by Andrea Jenkyns, former Tory MP for Morley and Outwood and Boris Johnson loyalist.
The Tories are expected to go on the attack, and seek to remind the public whenever they can of examples of poor performing councils controlled by other parties that have grabbed headlines.
One example is Birmingham City Council which the Tories say Labour has “driven to the brink of bankruptcy.”
The expected Tory attack line against Reform will be that the party lacks governing experience.
Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch said: “The Conservatives are the only party that stands up for families, for rural communities, and for local businesses. Labour pander to the unions, the Lib Dems waste your taxes, and Reform have no experience running anything.
“The Conservatives will be your voice in your local community, delivering value for money, lower taxes and better services – so vote Conservative on 1st May.”
In anticipation of the Tory’s local election launch tomorrow, a spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said: “The buck stops with bungling Badenoch. If she fails to deliver in the local elections, the writing will truly be on the wall for her and for the Conservative Party.
“Whilst they compete with Reform and tilt ever further to the right, the Liberal Democrats are focused on delivering for residents on issues including the cost of living, sewage in our rivers and the emergency in our NHS and care.
“Conservatives in councils such as Surrey and Hampshire asked for their elections to be delayed because they knew what the results would have been. The Conservatives are running scared of the Liberal Democrats across the country, and the Labour Government’s plans mean they will be in power well beyond their sell by date.”
