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There are significant structural changes like local government reorganisation (LGR) and devolution that are fundamentally reshaping the sector.There are hugely consequential local elections upcoming that are likely to produce more fragmented political control and a more complex and unpredictable governance environment.Councils face a new wave of statutory duties: from renters' rights and employment law changes to recycling, mental health and planning reforms – all of which raise questions about capacity and funding.Alongside all this is a whole set of policy and performance changes: the local outcomes framework, a new cross-government push to tackle homelessness, Local AI, updated Care Quality Commission guidance and innovation programmes like Test, Learn and Grow. Then, there are the big global drivers of which councils are at the sharp end – climate change, the cost of living, geopolitics and demographics.The challenge is not just managing individual reforms, but co-ordinating an overall programme of change that maintains strategic coherence and a clear direction of travel.No surprise then, that a lot of conversations among local government chief executives are centring around leadership.In recent round tables, LGR planning meetings and in the chief executive exchanges we facilitate, there has been a consistent focus emerging on the nature of executive leadership in local government, how this sits alongside political leadership and how it needs to evolve.Faced with the sort of complexity councils are dealing with, it is tempting to reach for familiar tools. The instinct is to break change down into programmes – discrete initiatives with a start, a middle and an end. Transformation plans are written, governance structures erected, milestones mapped. These things matter. They provide grip and visibility. But they are not enough.What councils are experiencing is not transformation as an event. It is transformation as a permanent state. Treating it as something that can be ‘completed' will not work. The capability required is not the ability to deliver change, but the ability to lead through continuous change without losing direction.What we need are leaders who can operate at the speed of lived experience, not the slower cadence of organisational cycles. Leaders who are adaptive rather than reactive, relational rather than procedural, and who have a long-term outlook, even as they respond to immediate pressures.This is where the limits of structural responses become clear. Governance, project plans and transition teams are necessary. But on their own, they are not sufficient. Structural change without cultural change simply rearranges the furniture, rather than redefining how the organisation lives and works.So, what do chief executives tell us about leadership in this environment? They identify three crucial elements.First, the ability to hold a long-term vision, not as a fixed idea, but as a living reference point that can absorb shocks without losing shape. In a time of constant change, the role of leadership is to provide continuity of intent, even when delivery methods change along the way.Second, turning intelligence into insight. Councils are not short of data. Indeed, they are often overwhelmed by it. What matters is the ability to interpret what is happening – socially, politically, organisationally – and translate that into informed judgement. Insight, not information, is what allows leaders to navigate ambiguity.Third, and perhaps most important, is relational capital. In volatile systems, authority alone is rarely enough to get things done. Progress depends on the ability to build trust, create shared understandings and generate the mandates that allow others to act. Leadership becomes less about control and more about connection.The political context only sharpens this. When the political make-up of councils changes, continuity will not be guaranteed by formal plans. It will rest heavily on the relationships, credibility and judgement of officers. The ‘soft' aspects of leadership become the concrete foundations of stability.What we need are leaders who can operate at the speed of lived experience, not the slower cadence of organisational cycles. Leaders who are adaptive rather than reactive, relational rather than procedural, and who have a long-term outlook, even as they respond to immediate pressures.The challenge is not simply to respond to a wave of change. Local government has done that before. It is to rise to all of it, all at once and to do so in a way that still creates and holds a sense of direction.Jonathan Carr-West is chief executive of the LGiU

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Local government: riding the wave of change

By Jonathan Carr-West | 22 April 2026

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