Resources for members and those planning to stand as an Independent councillor.
May 2021 elections update
In a January letter to the Parliamentary Parties Panel, Minister Chloe Smith expressed the Government’s view that doorstep campaigning was not allowed under current coronavirus guidelines. In letters to the Minister and Prime Minister, we challenged that position and worked with partners across local government and civil society to bring about a change to the guidance. The new guidance now allows safe doorstep campaigning from 8 March.
As in our statement, Independents felt disproportionately impacted by the initial decision, given that commercially distributed leaflet delivery was acceptable. We therefore supported a letter to the Minister highlighting the lack of inclusion of Independent and smaller party candidates in all of the government’s guidance to date; guidance the Electoral Commission is currently relying on. We are pleased that our calls have been heard and new guidance does reflect the needs of Independents and smaller parties, not just those from the big Westminster parties.
Campaign guidance for members
Along with The Campaign Company, the LGA Independent Group has developed and collated a range of resources to help current and prospective councillors with their campaigning efforts.
We have a campaigns toolkit to help you plan your campaign and Social Media advice if you are looking for an inexpensive way of getting your message out to a wide range of people.
Visit our leaflet sharing website, where recent newsletters, leaflets and other campaign materials, shared with us by LGA Independent Group Members, are available for you to use as inspiration.
Other resources
There’s further information available in regards to our Be a Councillor campaign and existing Campaign Networks.
We also have copies of Group Constitutions available on request for those setting up a new Independent Group. Please contact the office for more details.
For members concerned about the new Parliamentary Independent Group causing confusion for your electorate, here is a template press release you can use to clarify and show what you are doing locally.
Find here our Quick guide to planning a successful campaign