Future Local Lab
Local Government Explained
Local Elections England: 2026What is the point of local elections?
LGIU
‘Why do local elections matter?’ is a question that comes up too often. Despite being an integral part of democracy, it’s not always clear exactly what your vote in a local election helps determine for you and your community. At LGIU, we’re here to add clarity as part of our local election support and coverage.
At the most basic level, local elections are there for you to choose your local councillors. However, it might not be immediately obvious why this is important.
Your local councils are in charge of a range of essential services, including:
- Education: providing schools, transporting children to school and providing opportunities for adult learning
- Housing: organising or providing accommodation for people in need and maintaining social housing
- Social services: caring for and protecting children, older people and disabled people
- Highways and transport: maintaining roads and managing traffic flow
- Parks and leisure: maintaining green spaces, children’s play equipment, and leisure centres
- Cultural services: providing libraries, museums and arts venues
- Consumer protection: enforcing trading standards and licensing taxis
- Environmental health and services: making sure that the food provided in pubs and restaurants is safe to eat, and controlling pollution
- Planning: managing local development and making sure buildings are safe
- Economic development: investing, attracting new businesses and encouraging tourism
- Emergency planning: for things like floods or security threats
Your local councillors represent the voice of your community when deciding how these services should be run. Their impact on the quality of life in your community is much, much higher than the impact of your Westminster MP, who has no formal local powers.
If you have an election in 2026, and you can check whether you do below, please remember to register by 11:59pm on 20 April 2026 to vote in the following elections on 7 May 2026:
- Monday 20 April: Deadline to register to vote
- Tuesday 21 April at 5pm: Deadline to submit your application for a postal vote or a postal-proxy vote
- Tuesday 28 April at 5pm: Deadline to submit your application to vote by proxy
- Tuesday 28 April at 5pm: Deadline to apply for free voter ID
- Thursday 7 May: Polling day
Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm. As long as you are in the queue by 10pm, you will be able to vote.
Find out if there are elections happening in your area this year:
Want to check what type of election you’ll be able to vote in? Democracy Club have provided a fantastic tool for checking the elections near you:
Find out about the candidates in your area here:
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