If you’re voting on Thursday…

[sortyourdietout]

… in the local elections, are you looking at local councillors and deciding which one would be best fit for your area, or are you looking at MPs and central govt to decide who gets your vote?

IABU - using central govt and MPs to decide who to vote for (effectively a protest vote)

YANBU - using local councillors and local issues to decide who to vote for

[No local elections in my area but if there were I would look at local councillors and issues to decide)

Surely you mean 'when'?

It's hard to choose here as all parties appear to be running a 'slag off the other parties' campaign, rather than telling us what they'll be doing if they win!

Ive already voted (postal vote) and voted for local issues.
I voted 3x Labour candidates am very unhappy with their national record however locally they are ok. I feel we're in need of stability at a local level if we cant have it at national level and in our area thats a long serving labour council (they're not perfect).
I also wanted local people who understand local issues.

No she’s right to say ‘if’. Not all areas are voting on Thursday. No election in my area for example.

Theres no one I’d vote for anyway. Ordinarily I’d vote Labour but our Labour mp (female) thinks men can become women.
Of the local councillors Reform are currently running our council (and making a right mess of things). The local Labour ex councillors and supporters are regularly in town protesting about the sitting Reform council trying to bully them out.
The green candidate who stood at the last local election is a bloke in a dress.
And not a chance I’d vote Tory.

Our current Labour councillors do a really excellent job and so I’ll be voting for them again on Thursday

I believe that, for many, next week’s local elections in England, and the devolved elections, will act as a proxy for the electorate’s dissatisfaction with the current government.

We have had nothing from any of the candidates, apart from a flyer from Reform. Information is very sketchy, so my vote will go to the party that has the best chance of keeping out Reform, whether it’s a party I could subscribe to, or not.

Are there any websites that can help you make that decision in an informed way?

Our local Conservative is good so I will vote for him. I am a bit unimpressed with our local independents. Our MP is Lib Dem but unfortunately I happen to know the local candidate is so dim he thinks 31st February is a date... so he clearly shouldn't be in any kind of position of responsibility.

Another here who has no elections on Thursday, I think there's quite a few areas that don't.

If there were I would vote for those who will do their best locally. Here that's currently labour.

No, as not everyone is voting on Thursday. I’m not as I said in my OP.

When we had our local vote last year I found it really hard to find the info other than going directly to the local party website. And some of the local websites were lacking in details. Only Reform and Labour engaged on the local town Facebook page. The vote went to Reform (although I didn’t vote for her she has been very visible and vocal about local issues.)

Our local 'independents' are actually aligned with Your Party. For that reason they won't get my vote!

🙄

Of course. You're quite right.

Or the third option.

Recognising that our area could swing to Reform, so voting strategically to try to prevent that happening.

The fact that the councillor I will choose has been effective and hard working for the last few years confirms that choice in my mind even if they aren't of my preferred National party.

I’m voting tactically (LibDem) to attempt to keep Reform off my council. That’s more about central government than local issues, though they’ve proven that they’re capable of being dire in local government as well.

The only person that came around canvassing was Lib Dem, he had a good grasp of local issues so that’s who I will vote for.

Neither, as I’m voting in the Scottish Parliament election so it is on the basis of national issues. Due to the voting system I will vote for my preferred candidate in the constituency, and my preferred party in the regional list.

I’ll do a bit of both. I won’t vote for Reform or Tory. I may give a LD vote for a particular candidate. Outside of that I’ll research who to vote for especially if they’re already in post.

The options don't make sense

why is it a protest vote if you feel that looking at national parties broadly reflects your local area?

Neither. I’m voting in the Senedd Elections. I am in an area expected to be won by Reform. I won’t be voting Reform or Conservative but am still unsure who to vote for. Our local MP for Westminster is Labour. Our local councillor at village level is Lib Dem. Both are excellent.
My vote will be for the party I believe to be best for Wales and has the best chance of closing the gap on Reform in my area.

Our council is Labour controlled, and we've had excellent communications from them over the last few weeks. Lots of information about what they've achieved, and the benefits to residents of their tenure, as well as keeping them in power. We have one of the lowest increases in council tax in the country because of their financial acumen.

Nothing from the Tories.

Leaflets from the LibDems just moaning about Labour and not saying what they would do any differently, or why we should vote for them. They seem to think that because at a national level they are 'in charge' that we therefore should vote for them at a local level.

And, thank fuck, nothing from Reform.

Assuming that voting on national issues is a protest vote, is assuming that none of us will be voting for whomever we usually vote for (including Labour).

The OP is clearly asking are you voting, as you should be, for local Councillors and what they do for you, in your area,
OR
Are you pretending it is some sort of measure of popularity of the current National Government, which much of the mainstream media keep trying to push it as, when really it is nothing to do with MPs or National Government.