What will influence your vote this May?

Our choices are two labour, two conservative and one Reform party candidate, which a quick online search revealed as Farage related.
I dont vote conservative, or any other right leaning party but know nothing about the two labour candidates. Looked online, nothing there.
Emailed local labour party and await response. This is a fairly poor south of London town which has been run down for years and despite being a long term Tory council and parliamentary seat, with so many promises, it remains run down.
I despair and cant understand the much debated
phenomen of the working class Tory vote.

MOnica I think even in local elections one has to look at the wider picture. I'd do nothing to prop us this current government - an utter disaster for the country. I'm pretty affluent and live in a nice area - but I cannot subscribe to the 'I'm all right Jack, pull the ladder up' that seems to dominate local elections.

mousemac Are you saying that if you had a really good Conservative local authority in your area you would vote for one that would be really bad and make your local area worse just because it wasn't Conservative. Wouldn't that be cutting off your nose to spite your face?

I share the worry about voter ID that many young people are disenfranchised.
Student ID cards are not acceptable as ID, while our bus passes are. It seems that the old are being prioritised by this government, for the obvious reason that the old (though apparently not the more vocal gransnetters) tend to vote Conservative.
I suspect that a minority of young people, those with neither passport nor driving licence, have applied for their government ID. It's a tedious process.
Maybe this is not so important in local elections, since local councils barely have the funds to fulfil their statutory obligations, including social care. Turnout in local elections is in any case low.
But next year, there will be a parliamentary election. I think it's very important that all eligible people should be able to vote and I do urge people to go though the tedious process of getting a goverment voter ID in good time. Tell your DGs to do it also, and explain that their votes can bring about a badly-needed change of government.
By the way, I'm a Lib Dem.

I'm going to vote for anyone except the current ones in power. I'm protesting. I sometimes vote lib Dems or maybe Green in the locals. There's no doubt where I live that a Tory will be returned.

I vote for the candidate I perceive as honest, best able to serve people here.

My only motivation is to oust this cabal of thieves from government.
I will vote for anyone with the best chance of replacing a Tory, in any circumstances.

I always vote for the local independent candidate in local elections. I have never been so disenchanted with the two major parties as I am today. I will be voting for the Reform party in the general election.

I will be voting Independent
We are in an area greatly affected by Hs2 - Labour thought it up, Conservatives continued with project.

We have 2 votes in our elections in May, so it will be an Independent and a Green vote. They are the only ones who have shown their faces in the villages and it is absolutely vital to break the back of the Conservative hold locally who have done nothing at all for the problems in these villages.

Gundy is that what’s known as Yank-splaining?

I have received no publicity on who is even standing...so I'll vote for Green or maybe Independant although he's a bit of a waste of space.

If MORE people would vote or if EVERYONE would vote, the outcome of elections would be very different, I feel. People stay home out of apathy. That burns me up!

It is your duty to participate in democracy. I respect people more if they vote regularly than if they vote against what I support. Those that don’t should not be raging against the election results - but they seem to be the loudest voices. 🤬

What has become very clear is - the local elections are the base result of what may become a regional or national party or platform. If something concerns you, you’d better get out there!

Voting is a precious and valuable privilege. I’m very passionate about voter turnout.
Vote!
USA Gundy

Done my postal vote already, influenced solely by the present Green/Independant council who have wasted an inordinate amount of money on local/abandoned schemes. The city centre is full of closed shops/charity shops and yet they want to ban cars to make it a car free zone which will only exacerbate the situation, no joined up thinking here.

I’m not sure who deserves my vote if any won’t be labour as they can’t say what a woman is. Whichever one can tell me what a woman is

Crikey. So you'd vote for a party like the Tories who had a leader who was a clear misogynist, a lawbreaker, liar and philanderer, a party that shelters bullies of women and men (though he's unapologetically resigned today) and who have had and still have women in positions of power that have brought the country to their knees ie Truss and Braverman. Still - so long as they can define 'woman' the way you'd like the government can trash the country!

I’m not sure who deserves my vote if any won’t be labour as they can’t say what a woman is. Whichever one can tell me what a woman is. Had a labour candidate stop me In street and asked them what a woman is and it was a woman I asked she couldn’t tell me. So that’s a no to them from me

Greyduster, you have said the same as I would have. Possibly we are in the same area - vanity projects being a term in frequent use....

Locally our Libdem councillors are very proactive, but I really don't know what I would vote nationally. I detest the Tories' behaviour and many policies, don't think we'd be any better off with Labour, but don't know if the Libdems would be a good alternative. Dilemma.

Local Elections, I’m very concerned about this area being overrun with new high rise flats. Thousands are being built without infrastructure being considered.
I’m worried about more immigrants. We don’t have Schools, GP’s (are they a figment of my memory) lack of hospitals, transport- busses seem to have disappeared. Social Services - where are they. Pending closure of our police Station. Police? Where are they?
Potholes are growing as is homelessness. Lack of work and housing. No Road sweepers, no car parking, unless you have a mobile phone.
No youth clubs unless you can afford private clubs.
The country is in a state.
The only growth in my area is the yellow no parking lines and drug taking.
Yet the ‘want to be councillors’will say but we’ve kept the community tax down. And we do know this. The result is slum time approaching soon.
They all say they’re Working For Us - really!!

For us we think Labour and Conservative have both shown themselves in bad light these past few years. The only alternative in our area is The Green Party and as we like the promises that have put forward , that is who we are going for.

I make a point of voting in all elections (as previously stated by another - because women fought and died to get us the vote) and generally vote for the Candidate who impresses me most on either local or national issues.
I still waiting to see or hear from any Candidates at this point.

I have voted Tory most of my adult life. BUT seeing the mess the Tory council in Folkestone have made and been witness to their lying deceitful decisions I will definitely vote Labour as they are the only candidates who in my view represent our area's needs and have tried their best to stop some of this money grabbing council spending OUR money on their vanity projects! Not sure who I will vote for in the next General election though.

If I lived in an area with a Conservative-run council I'd vote for the party most likely to challenge Tory control. Tory-run councils have gone along with austerity cuts to local govt funding since 2010, which is why there's no money to fund social care to a civilised standard or mend their roads.

Independent candidates are usually popular with voters for good reason, but they can do little or nothing to influence anything once elected.

It would also lead to some hard-working Conservative candidates losing their seats which is tough, but them's the breaks we are told, and their loss gives a candidate from another party a chance to show how hard they can work.

In our area it is always the Conservatives who get the majority vote. I don't suppose it will make much difference but I am going to vote Green in the Local Elections as we have an ongoing battle with Southern Water about disposing of their waste along our beautiful coastline and any green initiatives seem to benefit the Councillors as they are supplied by their companies.

….just a thought MiniMoon….get postal vote. No I.D Needed. I do not drive and have no passport so I’m practically considered a ‘non -person’ in Britain! As is my so !
But we both leave a minuscule ‘carbon footprint’!

I vote for the person. Party politics is a majority cause of all problems. Vote for the person NOT the party.