The local elections were a bruising and depressing night for the Conservative Group. One by one, we lost incredibly good, hard-working colleagues who lost through no fault of their own.
The brutality of British politics means it is often local councillors who suffer because of the decisions made by those in Westminster.
Those Conservative councillors who we lost have an impeccable amount of knowledge and I know they will be back soon.
“It’s with this approach that we secure real results for our member councils”
But as local government starts to operate in a new political landscape, we must remember the importance of the LGA and the sector speaking as one voice. It’s with this approach that we secure real results for our member councils and for the wider benefit of the residents they serve.
Take our legal team at the LGA, for example: they recently secured £20 million for those councils, in all regions and tiers, who joined our collective action against Visa and Mastercard; and are currently fighting for compensation for those councils affected by price fixing by a cartel of truck manufacturers.
Also, because of LGA lobbying, we secured an additional £1.1 billion extended packaging producer responsibility funding for 2025/26, and a six-month extension to the Household Support Fund, amounting to an extra £421 million for our member councils.
Now more than ever before local government must speak as one voice.