Political monitoring firm, Polimapper - which works closely with sector organisations - shares their views on the recent mayoral and local council elections in England.
At Polimapper, as we continually stress the need to ‘localise’ national narratives, whether in terms of the number of jobs your industry supports, or how much value it brings to an area - firms can answer the question: “why does this matter to us?”.
By harnessing local data and presenting it in a visually engaging way to get the attention of parliamentary candidates and eventually new MPs, your business can begin to master the challenges of the changing political landscape, and take advantage of the opportunities it brings.
Localising narratives
In the wake of the recent mayoral and local council elections in England, long-expected changes in the political landscape are materialising. The results paint a clear picture, with notable swings and trends emerging across all regions in favour of Labour and, to a lesser extent, the Liberal Democrats.
The spate of Conservative parliamentary by-election defeats, accentuated by their defeat in Blackpool on 2 May set the scene for the local elections where they lost 474 seats.
But Labour (+186 seats) didn’t have it all their own way, with international affairs muddying the waters and helping the Green party (+74) and independents (+93) to increase their share of the vote. It remains to be seen how this will play out and whether this will hinder Labour’s march to power when the general election comes around.
Resignations at Westminster
When former prime minister Theresa May announced her imminent departure from Westminster in early March, she became the highest-profile of 100 MPs to reveal they were not standing for re-election.
The list includes other notable names such as Kwasi Kwarteng, Sajid Javid, and Dominic Raab for the Conservatives, and Nick Brown, Margaret Beckett and Harriet Harman for Labour.
Alongside those who have been deselected or displaced, the total number of replacement MPs is set to exceed 120. These resignations and projections of a significant Labour victory will of new faces in the Commons. After fourteen years of Conservative government, Brexit, and the Pandemic, an upcoming election presents an opportunity to rewrite the parliamentary agenda for years to come.
Challenges for trade associations
Looking ahead, the impending changes in Westminster pose practical challenges for trade associations. With as many as 300 new MPs expected, new relationships will need to be established and networks rebuilt. The composition of select committees and all-party groups will undergo significant reshuffling.
But while it can be a blow to lose MPs who were sympathetic to the cause, a change of personnel also presents the opportunity to build new and better relationships.
And with the average tenure of an MP reaching 13 years, investing in these relationships can provide returns well into the middle of the next decade.
Unlike recent snap elections in 2017 and 2019, there is a longer runway to this election, which is likely to take place in the autumn and is potentially still six months away.
Yet the majority of candidates with a realistic chance of winning (something that Polimapper’s Candidate Connect database can help identify) have already been selected, so there’s an opportunity to get ahead of the game and start building relationships now.
Complexities of boundary redrawing
As if the turnover of personnel wasn’t daunting enough, the redrawing of constituency boundaries adds another layer of complexity.
In England only 55 out of 533 constituencies remain unaffected by the changes, while Scotland and Wales have seen their constituency numbers reduced.
One immediate challenge for trade associations is understanding how this impacts key industry locations across the UK, which may not only face changes in representation but might also find themselves situated in an entirely new constituency.
Industry hotspots and economic data will need recalibration to align with the new boundaries, requiring re-mapping and analysis. Polimapper’s expertise in this area has assisted trade associations and companies in understanding their footprint against the new boundaries.
Another challenge amid this level of change is how to communicate the importance of your messages, amid competition.
