Local councils provide lesson on working together

Author: Kieran Larkin
Date: 12/05/2010
Publication: Regeneration and Renewal

Confusion reigned following the hung Parliament served up by the general election - although the outcome is now finally becoming clear. Missed by many, there is also an important story to tell from the local election results, particularly in the UK's major cities.

The big story here is the Labour gains. But there are also lessons that local government might offer to the incoming Conservative/Lib Dem government.

While the general election saw Labour's authority diminish, losing 91 seats, the local elections saw the party make gains across the country, adding 412 Councillors and 15 Councils. In Liverpool, Labour wrestled local power from the Lib Dems, gaining 9 seats.

As a result Joe Anderson has replaced Warren Bradley as the city's leader. One key development likely to take place in the city will be the approach to housing policy, with the new city leader keen to build more social housing.

Labour also gained Coventry council from Conservative rule. And in London, the party took three councils from the Tories - Ealing, Enfield and Brent - and took overall control in seven other boroughs.

Clegg and Cameron's teams have now negotiated the headline details of a deal for the new national government and are contemplating how tricky a Conservative/Lib Dem alliance might prove in practice.  As they do so, they should reflect on the fact that two of Britain's major cities have been operating under Conservative-Lib Dem power sharing agreements, fairly successfully, for quite sometime.

The residents of Birmingham and Leeds have become familiar with the idea of a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. And both of these councils have been able to agree significant spending cuts. In Birmingham, they are planning to cut 20,000 council jobs, in an effort to save more the £70 million. Leeds council expects more than 1,400 posts to go. This may serve as a precursor for the tough bargains on public spending that will need to be struck at the national level.

The story from Leeds also provides a warning. Following the local elections, the Conservatives and Lib Dems appear to have lost the council to a new coalition between Labour and the Green Party, after the Labour party gained four seats. Discussions are ongoing, but, whatever the outcome, decision making in the city will be finely balanced.

The national debate continues to move at a rapid pace; meanwhile the results of the local elections could see significant change in the governance of the UK's major cities. National politicians should now take the opportunity to look to local government to learn how to work together.

A version of this article first appeared on Regen.net