Only once every four years do residents have their say on who runs South Gloucestershire Council – and that happens on Thursday, May 4, with the Conservatives defending a narrow majority. But with the party languishing in national opinion polls, they face a real challenge to retain control of the authority – though it wouldn’t be the first time.
The district bucked the trend at the last elections in 2019 when the Tories were voted back in fairly comfortably as the biggest group in the chamber with 33 members and 42 per cent of the total vote, while Conservative administrations at North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset councils were swept aside, blaming the Government’s unpopularity. This time it means if they end up with just three fewer South Gloucestershire councillors, the authority would fall into no overall control and would be run either by a minority administration or a coalition.
The Lib Dems are currently the second biggest group with 17 members, having received 32 per cent of support from the electorate four years ago, but nationally are polling around 11 per cent. Labour are the only other group represented on the local authority with 11 councillors, from a 21 per cent share of the vote four years ago, yet the party has around 49 per cent approval according to the latest UK voting intentions – more than 20 points ahead of the Tories.
