Andrew Snowden: What I have learnt from my first year as a councillor

Don’t try to please everyone. Focus on results not endless meetings. It doesn’t matter what it says in the minutes – nobody reads them.

Jessica Studdert: Our national politics is broken. Renewal after Brexit needs to be built from the ground up.

“Taking back control” must also allow pioneering solutions to be tried out in local communities. Democracy is a process, not an event.

Joel Charles: The hard left must not be allowed to win the ground war

A clear campaign narrative that balances local and national priorities is crucial. Engage with community groups. Select candidates early. Use social media to complement, not replace, campaigning.

Ian McCord: Bay of Pigs, Challenger Space Shuttle, Northants County Council – groupthink destroyed them all

Too often local government lacks proper scrutiny. There is a closed-mindedness that ignores warnings and fails to consider long-term consequences.

Alex Walker: Why we need more young councillors

Digital is changing the way we live our lives. Councils can’t keep up unless the younger generation are part of the decision making process.

Ryan Jacobsz: To win the next election, the Conservatives must make better use of their activists

CCHQ needs to make our troops recognise that local elections are vital staging posts for Westminster campaigns, and need to be fought just as hard.

Jonathan Werran: We should allow hypothecated Council Tax rises

The cap for triggering referendums must now yield to popular consent to pay more in local charges to improve local services.

Christine Hobson: How on earth can Conservatives in Guisborough select candidates for elections in Middlesbrough?

We can make progress in these local elections next year – but not if we’re frustrated by stupid new rules.

Charley Jarrett: Why all council wards should be multi-member – and how to end one-party councils

A proportional distribution of seats within multi-member wards would achieve greater fairness and more competition.

Multi-member council wards should be abolished

Smaller electoral areas with just one councillor each would make for less confusion, more accountability – and fewer one party states.

The Conservatives are contesting all but 13 of the 4,413 local election races – more than Labour

Full slates of Tory candidates have been achieved in the East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, South West and London (the first time in the capital since 1986).

Matt Hartley: Our fight for democracy in Greenwich

Labour councillors see their chance to extinguish the only opposition voices left in the Council chamber, so they can continue their waste of taxpayers money, blame-shifting and failure to listen to residents unchecked.

Tony Armstrong: Put local land and buildings into community hands to secure their future

While sales to private developers might bring immediate capital receipts the long term value of amenities must also be considered. A partnership approach is needed.

Judy Terry: We lack proper local scrutiny of the relationship between the state and charities

Council committees lack independence. Local newspapers are sadly in decline. There is not the equivalent rigour to that provided by Parliament and the media nationally.

Effective scrutiny in local government means breaking the power of patronage

It is not merely money that is wasted. It is spending which diminishes the amount of scrutiny that might otherwise occur.