Brexit Halloween nightmare and local council elections

Priyanka Mehta Tuesday 16th April 2019 14:13 EDT
 
 

More than 8,000 local councillors across England are going to be elected to 248 councils on 2 May. These include 33 metropolitan districts except Birmingham, Doncaster and Rotherham, 47 unitary authorities, 179 districts (mostly rural). Additionally, votes will also be counted for directly-elected mayors at six authorities; Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and North of Tyne (Newcastle).

Local councils have urged everyone who is over 18 years old to register and come out to vote. However, turnout in local elections has always been low with just one in three voters voting in some areas in 2018. The UK was slated to leave the EU on 29th March and over the last three years, Brexit divide has led to the emergence of extreme identities. But will the national issues of Brexit, uncertainty over immigration and customs union be enough to drive higher participation in local elections?

“Usually it is difficult to witness a high voter turnout in local elections because of national policies. However, if the local elections of 1990 are to monitored then one would observe a high voter turnout because of the introduction of the poll tax by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and this year due to the ongoing Brexit there is a possibility for people to vote in increasing numbers,” said professor Tony Travers, of Director of LSE London.

Some communities in Bedford, Leicester and Swindon are “anxious and frightened” by the on-going Brexit debate, as data indicated the “devastating” impact a no-deal exit could have on the region.

Many migrants are unsure of their rights post-Brexit. People are especially worried about paying large sums of money to apply for settled status. Opinnions over Brexit have remained mostly consistent according to the latest YouGov polls where currently 54% people would prefer the UK to stay in the EU as compared to the 46% who are of the 'leave' camp.

“But it is interesting to note that young people have very little trust in the political leadership today and although, the Labour party appears on the softer side of Brexit, there is an on-going crisis with very little confidence in Jeremy Corbyn himself,” said Professor Sara Hobolt of London School of Economics and Political Science.

The Conservatives are reportedly fielding candidates in 96% of the available seats, whereas Labour are contesting 77% of these seats. The Liberal Democrats are standing prospective councillors in 53% of seats, while the Green Party is contesting in 30% and UKIP in 16% seats will be hoping for marginal gains. Both the professors however, believe that manifestos released by the two national parties for these elections would be the subject of extreme scrutiny which would potentially reflect on each party's proposal to move ahead with the Brexit negotiation.

“Usually, the trend observed in the UK politics is that if the Conservatives form the national government then the opposition politcal party would form the local government. While expectations are that Labour will relatively see a modest victory at the polls but Brexit fallout will likely damage the Conservatives vote share,” said Professor Hobolt.

The elections will take place on Thursday, May 2. Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm.


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