Jenrick announces measures to help councils focus on social care

Making full use of the volunteers will mean lifting some of the red tape around vetting and so forth. It is a matter of balancing the risks involved in a practical way.

Richard Cook: My business experience has helped me to provide effective leadership for Gloucester

When our elections finally come next year, we will be campaigning hard to win back an overall majority.

Mike Hurleston: Only the Conservatives care about Stockport’s gridlocked roads

Labour and Lib Dem councillors offer a seemingly endless stream of virtue signalling motions. We want practical results.

Samuel Williams: Bristolians are being poorly served by their current Mayor – the most deprived are hit the hardest

I commit to ensuring that education standards improve, and to back a freeport and eco-innovation enterprise zones.

Meirion Jenkins: Spending by Birmingham City Council is out of control

The relocation of a National Express bus depot for the Commonwealth Games athlete’s village will cost £15.5m – eight times more than budgeted.

Teresa O’Neill: Cutting the costs of Bexley’s politics

We have reduced the number of councillors by 30 per cent and we froze allowances for nine years running.

Simon Cooke: We need more politicians. It is the only way to tame the unaccountable bureaucrats.

Instead of seeing local councillors as a potential saving, maybe we should see them as an asset.

We are due to have fewer MPs. The number of councillors should also be cut.

In several London boroughs, the number is due to rise. That will be costly and damaging to local democracy.

Gareth Lyon: The opposition is trying to shift the focus from their local mismanagement to national decision-making

After having knocked on doors in six very different constituencies, across the South East, certain themes stand out. Social Care is one of them.

Leigh Higgins: Being a councillor has given me the practical experience to be an effective MP

In Chesterfield, people want to know about tackling potholes, safeguarding social care, and protecting the local High Street and local pubs.

Will Sweet: As a Wandsworth councillor, I’ll take my track record and continue it in Parliament

That means protecting the environment, supporting schools, and more police. It means friendly communities with better transport, homes, and high streets.

Mario Creatura: In defence of the professional politician

You wouldn’t go under anaesthetic if the surgeon were doing it as a hobby. There is a reason why a substantial number of MPs start life as councillors.

Shona Haslam: With three weeks to go here in Lanark & Hamilton East, it is only going to get busier, colder…and crazier.

The Scottish Conservatives do need to build up our activist base. The SNP has been effective in building a loud and bold campaigning force.

David Simmonds: I’m a supporter of railways, but HS2 is a misguided scheme

The current expensive disruptive route, and the neglect of decrepit local transport, are unacceptable.

Brenda Burgess: Being a councillor is about being absorbed in community life

So much of the role is apolitical. Arts projects for schools. Honouring local heroes. Planting flowers and removing weeds.