On May 7th 2020 elections will be held for 118 English local councils, eight directly elected mayors (including London) and 40 PCCs in England and Wales. Following the election, the Conservatives have continued to hold post-election leads and this potentially spells trouble for some incumbent Labour councils and opposition Labour Groups hoping to make gains.

However as shadow local government minister Jim McMahon argued recently, these elections should be viewed as much more than just a “temperature check” for the popularity of the two parties. Labour being in or out of power in local government will dictate whether Labour can affect change in these communities, even when it is locked out of power in Westminster. Labour councils are using their current power to do innovative work on co-operatives, housing, enterprise, adult social care, youth crime, local energy, community wealth building and more.

We invite you to join the Young Fabians Devolution and Local Government Network for our first event of the new year, previewing the elections and looking at the work of incumbent Labour councils. We will be joined by two speakers:

• Peter Robbins, Head of the Labour Group at the Local Government Association
• Sharon Taylor OBE, Labour and Co-operative leader of Stevenage Borough Council

The event will be at 6.30pm on Monday March 30th in the Autun Room at Stevenage Borough Council’s offices (Daneshill House, Danestrete, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 1ZT). This is part of the DLG Network’s aim this year to hold more events outside of London.