Title

HEALTH

Highways improvement comes top of pre-elections poll

Half of Britons believe the improvement of roads and pavements should be prioritised, according to a new poll ahead of the local elections.

Half of Britons believe the improvement of roads and pavements should be prioritised, according to a new poll ahead of the local elections.

Research by Ipsos found the public's priorities also included the improvement of affordable decent housing (39%), improvements in health services (37%), wages and local cost of living (36%), shops and town centres (36%) and cleanliness of streets (34%).

Based on interviews with 4,330 British adults, around a third (34%) reported being satisfied with their council's actions to improve their area while 31% were not.

Those in the South West and London were slightly more likely to be satisfied (both 40%) while those in Scotland were least satisfied (26%).

Satisfaction is even lower when it comes to the UK Government, with only 24% saying they were happy with what it was doing to improve things in their area.

Head of political research at Ipsos, Gideon Skinner, said: ‘Nationally, much of the attention is being paid to the cost of living crisis, Ukraine and partygate, but when it comes to the upcoming council elections more local factors will also have a role to play.'

HEALTH

Why more areas should become Boroughs of Sport

By Cllr Ross Garrod | 27 March 2026

Merton is on a mission to become London’s first Borough of Sport, says Ross Garrod. He sets out five simple steps it used to adopt a whole council approach t...

HEALTH

Cruising through the council pre-election comms challenge

By Louise Neilan | 19 March 2026

Louise Neilan provides a steer to key officers on how to keep councils on the right side of the guidance on pre-election publicity.

HEALTH

Missions mirage

By Jonathan Werran | 18 March 2026

The absence of a genuine national growth plan and an accompanying plausible narrative is a block on any strong prospect of local economic revival, argues Jon...

HEALTH

Why empowered councils can inspire the electorate

By Sir Bob Neill | 18 March 2026

Devolving more funding is the answer to improving the lacklustre turnout at local elections, says Sir Bob Neill.

Popular articles by William Eichler