(via The Guardian) Voters in Scotland, Wales and parts of England will vote in local elections on 5 May…In England, most of the seats will be contested in London – 1,817 seats across 32 boroughs – where Labour controls the vast majority of councils. Outside the capital, a wide variety of councils are up for election: 33 metropolitan borough councils covering 904 seats; 21 unitary authorities, with 627 seats; 60 district councils (1,011 seats). Six mayors will also be elected in London boroughs, and one in the South Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Many thanks to Conservative Friends groups and volunteers from across London for joining forces and organising a great action day to support Louie French in the upcoming Old Bexley & Sidcup by-election!

England local elections 2021 – Conservatives make council gains across England (via BBC)

The Conservatives have made significant gains across England, adding 13 councils and an extra 235 councillors to their overall tally by Sunday. Labour has lost control of eight councils, including Durham County Council. The party fared better in the mayoral races, as Sadiq Khan was re-elected as London mayor, Andy Burnham won a second term as Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Tracy Brabin becomes West Yorkshire’s first elected mayor. Labour also won mayoral elections in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Liverpool City Region, and West of England

Only a couple of days to go until the local council, Mayor of London and London Assembly elections this Thursday 6th.

We campaigned with Conservative mayor candidate Shaun Bailey in north London on Bank holiday Monday. It was great to meet Shefik Mehmet (Chairman of Harringay Traders Association) and Ian Sygrave (Haringey Association of Neighbourhood Watches), to talk about the cost of current mayor Sadiq Khan’s policies: from increasing congestion charge and council tax to decreasing police presence on our streets. We then stopped by Antepliler, Gokyuzu and Selale restaurants on Green Lanes. Shaun’s related tweet is here. You can find his detailed plans on the campaign website.

As many of you know Shaun’s engagement with the Turkish community started much earlier.

In February he attended a virtual rountable with directors of Turkish associations and councillors. In 2019 he was a speaker at ITSEB’s (Association of Turkish Speaking Health Professionals in the UK) seminar on mental health awareness at IAKM Britain Alevi Cultural Centre and Cemevi. He also attended an Iftar dinner at Turkish Religious Foundation of the UK (Ingiltere Turk Diyanet Vakfi).

The best way to help Shaun and your local candidates on Election Day is to help get out the vote. If you haven’t done this before please let us know and we can discuss!