Each year, LGIU commissions Ipsos to conduct polling on UK attitudes to local elections, the work of councillors and the role of local government in England. This is a summary of the main findings from the 2024 survey, revealing declining trust towards all levels of government and pessimism about the quality of local services. Read the report.

This is a question we are often asked, so we put together this informative article looking at how no overall control (NOC) is worked out, what it means for the running of a council and where this year’s NOC battlegrounds are. Read the article.

We have been covering the local elections for well over a decade now and have a wealth of valuable insight. We have experts available to provide commentary and discussion across a range of election issues. Get in touch via our press team.

LGIU’s weekly election updates are published each Thursday throughout April. Read the updates.

This edition of our weekly bulletin explores the electoral process, funding electoral services and the challenges facing staff delivering this vital service. Global Local curates information and inspiration from local government around the world. Read the bulletin.

Andrew Smith, Chair of the Association of Electoral Administrators, provides insights into the challenges of preparing for and running UK elections. Discussing the work involved, from booking polling stations to training staff, and so much more. He also addresses changes to the Elections Act, overseas electors, and constituency boundary changes. Read the article.

In this article, Peter Stanyon, Chief Executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, addresses the significant changes and consequential preparations underway in local authorities ahead of the May 2nd elections. Read the article.

This LGIU members briefing, updated for 2024, covers some essential issues for local authorities during the pre-election period. It includes This includes the publicity code, tackling discriminatory election campaigns, using data during campaigning and the position of elected members who are also campaigning for re-election. Read the briefing.

This short guide offers some practical tips on assessing risk and adopting strategies and behaviours that will minimise any potential hazards you might identify as part of your councillor role and while you are out and about on the campaign trail. Read the guide.

The 2023 local elections in England saw the first time that electoral administrators had to incorporate voter ID into the running of elections in the UK (outside of Northern Ireland). This report collected the views of those officials to discover how an already stretched service coped with another pressure. Read the report.

Local government is not immune to the misinformation phenomenon – particularly at election time – and must find ways to tackle it proactively and reactively. This panel discussion will explore the challenges and focus on practical insights and ideas to counteract disinformation. This is a free event for LGIU members (there is a small charge for others). Book a place.

This guide is focused on some easy steps to make election communications better so that local people know where to vote, who they can vote for and how much their vote mattered in the final outcome. Read the guide

This 2023 LGIU member briefing looks at the main issues affecting local journalism, with a particular focus on the impact it has on reporting local government and the situation now that many local papers have closed down. Read the briefing.

LGIU Training provides online training sessions that will help new councillors pick up the knowledge and skills that they will need to settle into the role. We can also work with you to develop and in-house training programme tailored to the needs of your council and councillors. Find out about our training for councillors and our in-house offer.

Councils are responsible for a very wide range of services, many of which are statutory (i.e. they are legally required to fulfil them). Find out here which type of authority is responsible for which service.

Our resources page collates a wealth of LGIU resources that will help the May intake to navigate the councillor role and get up to speed with subjects and ways of working that may well be new to them. Some of the content is for members only and we encourage all new councillors to find out if their council is an LGIU member. Go to the resources page.