The following article is a comment piece from the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)
The government has finally announced which English local council elections will go ahead on Thursday 1 May, in a statement made by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to parliament on 5 February – just seven weeks before nominations open.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which in September last year published a directory of the council elections that were statutorily scheduled for May, has now produced a revised edition, available here. And you can stand to be a candidate.
Labour: a casual attitude to democracy
The uncertainty about the May polls was caused by the announcement in mid-December that the government was planning to merge many district councils into larger, less accountable, single bodies – known as unitary authorities – and increase the number of directly elected mayors. In doing so it gave the option to county councils facing elections in May this year to apply to postpone those contests if they could show they could carry out re-organisation plans by 2026.
In the event elections have been cancelled for seven county councils and two unitary authorities, justified by Rayner as avoiding “an expensive and irresponsible waste of taxpayers’ money”. But why would elections be a ‘waste of money’?
The fact is that over five million people in these council areas have been denied the chance to vote – both on who should run their local services now, and on how their local councils should be organised in the future.
The whole process illustrates again the casual attitude to democracy of Keir Starmer’s continuity-Tory New Labour Party government – and, indeed, all the capitalist establishment parties.
The Tories’ shadow minister Kevin Hollinrake said that the “mass postponement” was a “worrying day for democracy” – but all bar one of the councils that had applied to cancel their elections were Tory-led!
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems leader Ed Davey denounced the cancellation of elections as “denying voters a chance” to kick councillors out of office in May – ignoring the tiny detail that the Lib Dem-led Oxfordshire county council had also applied to postpone its elections (but was turned down by Rayner).
May’s battleground
The revised TUSC directory sets out where the electoral battleground will be in May.
Now the job is to get the biggest-possible number of trade unionists and anti-cuts community fighters onto the ballot paper to make sure the establishment politicians don’t go unchallenged.
TUSC was set up to enable working class fighters, trade unionists, community campaigners, anti-war or climate activists, and socialists from different parties or none to stand in elections using a ballot paper description that gives a clearer indicator of their politics than just the bare label of ‘Independent’ – the only description that candidates are legally allowed to use unless they are supported by a political party registered with the Electoral Commission.
The only qualification for candidates who wish to use the TUSC name, or any other of the eight descriptions it has registered with the Electoral Commission, is that they have to endorse the TUSC core policies platform for the relevant election. These are a list of minimum commitments that voters could expect from someone elected while using the TUSC banner – while leaving room for every candidate, whether from the various parts of our coalition or an independent individual socialist, to keep control of their own campaigns.
The TUSC platform for the May 2025 local elections – the ‘six guarantees’ – can be viewed here.
TUSC: here’s how to get involved
By law, candidates who wish to appear on the ballot paper using a registered description have to submit to the council election staff, along with their nomination forms, a Certificate of Authorisation to use a Description, signed by the Nominating Officer of the party that holds the description with the Electoral Commission.
An application form (download) for candidates to use a TUSC-registered description – including for the first time the new description, Independent Trade Union and Socialist Candidate – is now available. Submitting the form will be taken as indicating your agreement with the ‘six guarantees’.
The deadline for candidate applications to be considered by the next TUSC steering committee is Saturday, 22nd February. Send the completed forms to cliveheemskerk(at)socialistparty.org.uk
For more details on the election process, check out the TUSC guide to electoral law for prospective candidates and election agents.
Featured image via the Canary
