Five reasons to care about the local elections

Karin Bottom, University of Birmingham

On May 3, the local elections will see contests in 150 English local authorities. Attention is largely focused on expected outcomes in the 32 London boroughs but the majority of the 4,350 seats will be contested outside of the capital. The same day will also see five mayoral elections in London and the first combined authority mayor elected for the Sheffield city region.

Local elections are important but unfortunately, second order contests still fail to receive the attention they deserve. However, there are a number of reasons why we should pay close attention to those that take place those on Thursday.