A third of MPs have local government experience
Now that the votes have been counted, we can look at what the results of the general election on 4 July mean for local government, and our hopes for the new Government.
First to note is that nearly a third of the House of Commons – 200 MPs – have local government experience as either a councillor or an officer. This includes many with whom you will be familiar, such as: Shaun Davies, the LGA’s former Chair; Nesil Caliskan, who, most recently, was the LGA’s Labour Group Leader; Michael Payne, who was an LGA Deputy Chair; and Vikki Slade, who was a Deputy Chair of our Local Infrastructure and Net Zero Board.
We are also well-served among the ministerial ranks. At the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has become, Ministers of State Jim McMahon and Matthew Pennycook are former councillors.
In the Cabinet, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, and Scotland Secretary Ian Murray are all former councillors.
And newly elected Georgia Gould, another former LGA Deputy Chair and former Chair of London Councils, is Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office.
As LGA Chair Cllr Louise Gittins wrote in her welcoming letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, a new Parliament offers the chance to reset the relationship between central and local government, and to work in partnership to deliver transformative change.
Our Local Government White Paper demonstrated how local government is the key to solving some of our biggest national challenges.
We work at the frontline of people’s daily lives. We shape places, provide vital services which hold our communities together, keep people safe, and create the conditions for prosperity and wellbeing.
The white paper called for a fundamental reset of the local-national government relationship, and we welcome the Government’s commitment to deliver a radical transfer of power from Westminster to communities, giving local leaders the tools they need to be true place leaders.
However, there has never been a more difficult time for local government.
Councils find themselves in an increasingly precarious position, facing the toughest of decisions.
Local government has faced a 22.2 per cent cut in core spending power since 2010/11. Combined with rising costs and growing demands, financial resilience is at an all-time low, despite the sector continuing to innovate and make efficiencies.
The Government’s commitment to reintroduce multi-year funding settlements and end competitive bidding are a vital step forward. However, if we are going to jointly solve issues such as the broken children’s social care market, provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, homelessness and temporary accommodation, the forthcoming spending review must prioritise these areas.
As ever, local government stands ready, with our experience and expertise, to work with the Government to find innovative and reforming solutions to the issues facing the country and to deliver a better future for our communities.
We will continue to meet with new ministers over the coming weeks to work on our shared ambitions, and to place our sector at the heart of the new Government’s missions to deliver change.
- Find out more about the LGA’s parliamentary work.