The message behind May’s local election results was clear – with Reform’s surge in seats at Labour and the Conservatives expense, the public’s disillusionment with Westminster has boiled over. Although we may take comfort in the fact that Reform’s newly won seats do not translate into much serious political power, this very fact is a key part of the problem we are facing. Fortunately, with the next general election years away, the Government still has time to act. In order to deal with the root causes of this disillusionment and its effects on our democracy, Westminster must empower local government – the English Devolution Bill must be bolder.
Reform ran a campaign focused on the public’s dissatisfaction in order to punish the two main parties. The public frustration which made this campaign successful is clear to see, with only 14% of Britons believing the current government is performing well. Furthermore, the issues people are most concerned about locally, such as crime or management of the NHS, are precisely the same issues they view the government as having failed to improve.
The election results were not simply a rebellion against the government, however. They also represent the public’s dissatisfaction with an area of government most immediately important to them – local government. Polling by the Local Government Information Unit reveals that, when asked what impacts their quality of life most, local councils come top of the list, being chosen by 59% of respondents, to Westminster’s 12% or the Prime Minister’s 14%.
Despite this importance for people’s lives, the under-resourcing of local authorities is an issue that has plagued England for over a decade. Current spending powers available to local authorities are 10% lower in real terms than they were in 2010, with spending powers in the most deprived areas falling by 24.4% over the same period.
The underfunding and straightjacketing of local government have entrenched inequalities, leaving entire communities in a state of stagnation and decline. This material reality, coupled with successive governments’ lack of action, has also bred political apathy, represented in polling reflecting that 57% of people feel their local area is underrepresented by decision making in Westminster. This frustration with local decline was clearly on display at this year’s local elections, with areas the Local Trust terms as ‘left behind’ located in Doncaster – such as Mexborough or Adwick le Street & Carcroft – all voting overwhelmingly for Reform.
The solution to the systemic decline faced by communities and to political instability must therefore be found, at least to a certain extent, in revitalising local government.
Such revitalisation requires further financing, something central government is currently lacking. However, some potential reforms are available. Reforming the spending review process could help to redistribute funds from the least deprived to most deprived councils. Similarly, devolving further financial powers to local governments would allow them to pursue their own growth strategies, with a long-term view to realising their regional potential.
Although further devolution could result in large differences between councils, thus inhibiting national projects. The preset lack of regional autonomy is itself holding back many local areas and indeed the nation as a whole. Furthermore, local authorities are likely to collaborate on joint projects if their region is likely to benefit from them. Enabling cooperation between local governments through an English Devolution Council could result in national projects tailored to regional needs, thus making their impacts more beneficial. The path to long term economic development across the country then, is through a cooperative and coordinated approach to devolution.
It may seem counterintuitive to try to secure political stability by handing more powers to newly populist-controlled local governments, but it is important to take a long-term approach to the local decline which has created the space for populist politics – one which grants agency and demands accountability. If devolution grants their local governments further powers to improve local life, Reform will be unable to campaign again on grievance as voters hold them to account over policy instead. Dubious Reform ambitions – such as their apparent intention to shut down green energy infrastructure and projects in their newly won Kent County Council – may start to cause the party problems when held up to the light of serious incumbency.
By empowering local government, the most immediate organ of democratic politics for most citizens – a more active and engaged form of citizenship can emerge. The antidote to helplessness, along with the political populism which thrives upon it, is to enable the self-development of communities, while including the citizen further in the exercise of democratic power.
Jake Shewfelt is a Member of Bright Blue. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Bright Blue.