Gloucestershire elections: What's at stake?

Gloucestershire County Council is up for election and will be a key battleground for the five main parties.

More than 70% of Gloucestershire residents' council tax goes to the county council.

All 55 seats are up for the taking and any party that gets 28 will lead the authority.

The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, The Green Party and Reform all have sitting councillors and will be hoping to run it.

Whoever does will have a big say on Gloucestershire goings-on.

The county council is responsible for highways - which includes pothole repairs, cycle lanes and electric car charging points.

Council leaders' aim was to invest £100m in Gloucestershire's roads and purchased a number of machines to tackle the potholes.

The £48m cycle spine road through the county is also their creation but has been criticised by some over safety fears and the amount of disruption it has caused Gloucestershire road users.

More electric car charging points have also popped up over the last four years but some have expressed concern about the practicality of the roll out.

The county council is not in charge of bin collections but is in charge of where our rubbish goes once it has been collected.

In 2023, half the waste collected was incinerated and turned into energy. The county council said it has made millions of pounds as a result but critics argue it has cost much more.

Other services they are responsible for include:

• Schools - whilst many schools in Gloucestershire are now academies, GCC still have ultimate oversight and oversee entry.
• Children's services - issues around children in care have been a problem for a long time but have improved recently.
• SEND - how to look after children with Special Educational Needs and building Special Schools is the job of the council.
• Adult Social Care is not provided by all councils but is by Gloucestershire who have responsibilities for some care homes and supported living facilities.
• Infrastructure - making the case to central government for major building work such as new motorway junctions is something the council has spent millions on.
• Libraries - 32 are run by the council across Gloucestershire.
• Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue - The emergency service has been under control of the county council since 1974, but has faced some cultural problems in recent years.

Whoever is in charge next year will have a big decision to make on how local government in the county is made up.

That's because Westminster is pushing all areas of England to get rid of local councils - such as Cheltenham Borough Council or Stroud District Council - and instead go for one 'unitary' council.

In Gloucestershire, that means getting rid of the six district councils and having one council in charge of everything.

Or does it?

Some political parties have suggested splitting Gloucestershire in two because of its size and the feeling that would ensure people's views everywhere were heard.

There's no agreed way before between political parties or even amongst some parties themselves.

Whoever takes power after May will have to recommend which is the best model, while also working out who they would like to buddy up with so Gloucestershire can have a metro mayor - but that's a whole other story.

Gloucestershire County Council has been run, in one form or another, by the Conservatives for the last 20 years and Stephen Davies is the current leader.

But their majority has been whittled down after a defection and two expulsions from the party.

The current make-up of Gloucestershire County Council before the election is 25 Conservatives, 16 Liberal Democrats, five Labour, four Green, two independents and one recent Reform councillor.

28 seats are needed for an overall majority.

Campaign leaflets have started coming through letterboxes already.

The Conservatives have said this election is the most important vote in Gloucestershire for a generation, with "a 1,000 years of history at stake".

They don't want Gloucestershire split up in the reorganisation and accuse the Lib Dems and Labour of a "tax bombshell" if they get in.

The Liberal Democrats said '"services have never been worse" under the Conservatives and they will focus on a number of things including "fixing roads and bringing back buses, a care system that cares, and making the county a leader in clean renewable energy generation".

The Labour Party said if they are elected in May they will deliver 'affordable housing', look at 'cutting waiting lists, neighbourhood policing and fixing our broken roads'.

The Green Party's ambitions include 'boosting preventative health care' and they also want to 'make streets safer, deliver better public transport, generate more clean green jobs' and reduce the county's waste and pollution.

Reform UK said the council is 'no longer able to deliver for local people' and they would set up a 'British-style DOGE' (Department of Government Efficiency) getting rid of 'fraudulent contracts' and cutting 'wasteful spending.' They said this will allow them to cut tax and fill in potholes.

Voting takes place on Thursday 1 May between 07:00 and 22:00 BST, although postal votes can be cast before then.

You have to register by 23:59 BST on 11 April 2025 to vote.

If you are planning to vote in person you will need to take photo identification, as per the rules introduced in 2023.

Counting will take place the next day, with the final results due sometime in the late afternoon or early evening on Friday 2 May.

A full list of candidates can be found here.

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