Those of us accused of being Londoncentric are preoccupied with ensuring Boris Johnson is re-elected as Mayor of London in 2012.
But for the rest of you (83% of UK voters) there is the small matter of elections on Thursday 5 May 2011 in 279 English local authorities, the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly.
How will we get on? We should be prepared to face some losses, shouldn't we? We are starting from a high base. The current political compositions can be seen on this link.
The following 36 metropolitan boroughs have a third of seats up for election:
Barnsley, Gateshead, Rochdale, Stockport, Birmingham, Kirklees, Rotherham, Sunderland, Bolton, Knowsley, Salford, Tameside, Bradford, Leeds, Sandwell,Trafford, Bury, Liverpool, Sefton, Wakefield, Calderdale, Manchester, Sheffield, Walsall, Coventry, Newcastle upon Tyne, Solihull, Wigan, Doncaster, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Wirral, Dudley, Oldham, St Helens and Wolverhampton.
We have all the seats up for election in the following 30 unitary authorities (including directly elected mayors in Bedford and Middlesbrough):
Bath & N.E. Somerset, Cheshire West and Cheshire, North Lincolnshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Bedford, Darlington North Somerset, Telford & Wrekin, Blackpool, East Riding of Yorkshire, Nottingham, Torbay, Bournemouth Herefordshire, Poole, West Berkshire, Bracknell Forest, Leicester, Redcar & Cleveland, Windsor & Maidenhead, Brighton & Hove, Luton, Rutland, York, Central Bedfordshire, Medway, South Gloucestershire, Cheshire East, Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees.
With these 19 unitary authorities a third of the seats are up for election:
Blackburn with Darwen, Kingston upon Hull, Portsmouth, Swindon, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Reading Thurrock, Derby, North East Lincolnshire, Slough, Warrington, Halton, Peterborough, Southampton Wokingham, Hartlepool, Plymouth and Southend-on-Sea.
The following 124 district councils have all of their seats up for election (including the directly elected Mayor of Mansfield):
Allerdale, East Devon, Mendip, South Northamptonshire, Arun, East Dorset, Mid Devon, South Oxfordshire, Ashfield, East Hampshire, Mid Suffolk, South Ribble, Ashford, East Hertfordshire, Mid Sussex, South Somerset, Aylesbury Vale, East Lindsey, New Forest, South Staffordshire, Babergh, East Northamptonshire, Newark & Sherwood, Spelthorne, Barrow-in-Furness, East Staffordshire, North Devon, St Edmundsbury, Blaby, Eden, North Dorset, Stafford, Bolsover, Epsom & Ewell, North East Derbyshire, Staffordshire Moorlands, Boston, Erewash, North Kesteven, Suffolk Coastal, Braintree Fenland, North Norfolk, Surrey Heath, Breckland, Forest Heath, North Warwickshire, Taunton Deane, Broadland, Forest of Dean, North West Leicestershire, Teignbridge, Bromsgrove, Fylde, Northampton Tendring, Broxtowe, Gedling, Oadby & Wigston. Test Valley, Canterbury, Gravesham, Ribble Valley, Tewkesbury, Charnwood, Guildford, Richmondshire, Thanet, Chelmsford, Hambleton, Rother, Tonbridge & Malling, Chesterfield, Harborough, Rushcliffe, Torridge, Chichester, High Peak, Ryedale Uttlesford, Chiltern, Hinckley & Bosworth, Scarborough, Vale of White Horse, Christchurch, Horsham Sedgemoor, Warwick, Copeland, Kettering, Selby, Waverley, Corby, King's Lynn & W. Norfolk, Sevenoaks, Wealden, Cotswold, Lancaster, Shepway, Wellingborough, Dacorum, Lewes, South Bucks, West Devon, Dartford, Lichfield, South Derbyshire, West Dorset, Derbyshire Dales, Maldon, South Hams, West Somerset, Dover, Malvern Hills, South Holland, Wychavon, Eastbourne, Mansfield, South Kesteven, Wycombe, East Cambridgeshire, Melton, South Norfolk, Wyre.
A third of the seats are up for election for the following 70 district councils:
Amber Valley, Elmbridge, Norwich, Tamworth, Basildon, Epping Forest, Pendle, Tandridge, Basingstoke & Deane, Exeter, Preston, Three Rivers, Bassetlaw, Gloucester, Purbeck, Tunbridge Wells, Brentwood, Great Yarmouth, Redditch, Watford, Broxbourne, Harlow, Reigate & Banstead Waveney, Burnley, Harrogate, Rochford, Welwyn Hatfield, Cambridge, Hart, Rossendale, West Lancashire, Cannock Chase, Havant, Rugby, West Lindsey, Carlisle, Hertsmere, Runnymede, West Oxfordshire, Castle Point, Huntingdonshire, Rushmoor, Weymouth & Portland, Cherwell, Hyndburn, South Cambs, Winchester, Chorley, Ipswich, South Lakeland, Woking, Colchester, Lincoln, St Albans, Worcester, Craven, Maidstone, Stevenage, Worthing, Crawley, Mole Valley, Stratford-on-Avon, Wyre Forest, Daventry, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stroud, Eastleigh, North Hertfordshire, Swale.
There are also full elections in these 26 district councils in Northern Ireland.
Antrim, Carrickfergus, Dungannon Newry, Ards, Castlereagh, Fermanagh, Newtownabbey, Armagh Coleraine, Larne, North, Ballymena, Cookstown, Limavady, Omagh, Ballymoney, Craigavon, Lisburn, Strabane, Banbridge, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Belfast, Down, Moyle.