‘REGISTER AND VOTE IF YOU WANT TO INFLUENCE HOW £500M IS SPENT’
243 candidates fight it out for 62 seats in Staffordshire
MORE than 240 candidates will fight it out for 62 county council seats when Staffordshire goes to the polls in a month’s time.
The all-out election at Staffordshire County Council will take place on Thursday, May 6, with the ongoing pandemic likely to make it one of the most unusual local polls in living memory.
A total of 243 people will be looking to win a seat on the council after having their nominations validated.
The authority’s ruling Conservative group will be defending 50 seats, following their landslide victory in the last election in 2017. The Labour group currently has 10 councillors, with two independent members.
Candidates from smaller parties, including the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, Reform UK, the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, will also be aiming to win seats.
This election is likely to see significantly more postal votes than is usually the case, with many voters understandably reluctant to visit a polling station.
The pandemic is also having an impact on political campaigning, with social distancing rules making traditional canvassing more difficult.
Labour group leader Charlotte Atkins, who will be looking to retain her Leek South seat, says it is difficult to judge how the election will go, given the unprecedented circumstances.
Ms Atkins said: “It’s been quite a stop-start campaign – we didn’t even know for certain that the elections would be going ahead in May until quite late. And of course there are the covid restrictions on campaigning.
“Labour has a good ground operation and our traditional approach would be to knock on doors. But I think there are a lot of people who we know wouldn’t appreciate that now. So it’s going to be difficult to gauge the mood of voters.
“But there are a number of seats across the county which are very marginal where we are hoping to win this time. Kidsgrove, for example, would require just a 1.5 per cent swing, while Stafford West, would need a 2.5 per cent swing.”
Conservative cabinet support member Simon Tagg, who will be standing in Westlands and Thistleberry again, is hopeful that the Tories will have another good election.
He said: “We did really well in 2017 so we will be defending a lot of seats. But we have some really good candidates, particularly in Newcastle, and the Conservatives have a good record at the county council. We still have the lowest council tax of any county, and I think the council has performed very well during the pandemic.
“The rural parts of the county and the south have always been strong Conservative areas, but in the last general election we also saw ‘red wall’ areas like Newcastle move to us as well, so this election will be the first test of that.
“This will be an unusual election – we’re not going to be knocking on people’s doors. But we’ll still be out leafleting every chance we get.”
Mr Tagg expects that the Conservatives’ electoral prospects nationally will be boosted by the successful vaccination programme and the lifting of lockdown restrictions. But Ms Atkins believes this would be an ‘undeserved bounce’, saying that the vaccine success has been mostly due to the NHS and local public health teams.
The county council elections will take place on the same day as the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner elections in Staffordshire, as well as the district council elections in Tamworth and Cannock Chase, and various byelections.
If people want to vote in any of the elections taking place that day, they must be registered to vote by midnight on Monday, April 19. The deadline to register for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday, April 20. John Tradewell, director of corporate services, urged people across Staffordshire to make sure they are registered to take part in the elections.
He said: “The county council has an annual budget of more than £500 million and its services touch the lives of every resident. Whether it’s protecting vulnerable children and commissioning care for the elderly; delivering highways maintenance and gritting in winter; or investing in the economy for the future, the decisions about how these and many other services are delivered week in week out are taken by Staffordshire residents elected by their local communities.
“If people want to influence how key services are delivered on their doorstep, they should make sure they are registered in time and then cast their vote – either by post, or on Thursday, May 6.”