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When Andy Burnham made his set-piece speech last week, outlining his pitch for the Labour leadership, he began with a vision for collaborative politics, putting place before party and where the mission takes priority.While that may be the maturity of Manchesterism – after decades of wrangling and in what has been predominately a single-party state – it is not where we are in the national political landscape.Setting aside the toxic, algorithm-driven discourse of social media, the current political debate is adversarial and polarised, permanently designed to destabilise the current leadership regime in a bid to force change.If we are in a post-collaborative world, what does that mean for the Local Government Association (LGA)? Set up nearly 30 years ago, the LGA defied gravity, pulling together disparate groups to come together in a single representative body, speaking jointly across political, geographical and structural divides.For the LGA, balancing the interests of different members, alongside its roles as an improvement body, membership organisation and lobbyist, while remaining financially stable, has been a near impossible task – yet it has managed to do it.Plans to downgrade jobs, reduce headcount – it has gone up from 506 staff to 508 in the year since – and cut salaries may be on the back burner but the status quo is not an option. The interim chief executive, the former Camden LBC chief executive Jenny Rowlands who was brought in during Killian's absence, has now been joined by a new chair, Bury MBC leader Eammon O'Brien.One local government insider told The MJ: ‘The LGA was conceived in a world in which you could do consensus across the [two or three] main parties. You can't do that across five or six groups.‘We live in a world of adversarial politics, but also of algorithmic politics… I don't see how the LGA functions in that.'Last year, as we headed to the LGA annual conference, The MJ looked at the threats to the association: the rising number of political groups; reorganisation; rapid technological and social change, the growing influence of mayors; and its precarious funding.Most of those issues remain, or have intensified. In the year since, an attempt to restructure the LGA by former chief executive Joanna Killian ended with her departure – and there is still no clarity on how the organisation will reshape for the future.Plans to downgrade jobs, reduce headcount – it has gone up from 506 staff to 508 in the year since – and cut salaries may be on the back burner but the status quo is not an option. The interim chief executive, the former Camden LBC chief executive Jenny Rowlands who was brought in during Killian's absence, has now been joined by a new chair, Bury MBC leader Eammon O'Brien.Speaking to The MJ in the run up to taking on his new role, O'Brien said the association was in the process of coming up with a plan.‘It's vital that we ensure the LGA is fighting fit, that it's outward focused,' he said. ‘To do that, we've got to be internally fit for purpose. We've got to have people excited and optimistic and positive about the work that we do.'For now the internal atmosphere is not the happy ship he describes. Despite a positive welcome for Rowlands and O'Brien insiders claim morale is still low while uncertainty remains, but he acknowledged the need for a rapid resolution while the LGA ‘continues to work hard for the sector'.O'Brien is also more positive on collaboration than most. Despite national politics, he said: ‘I've never failed to be impressed by the collaboration and the focus on place over party [in local government], and I do think we're better placed than any part of the system to showcase to a potential Andy Burnham government that it can work.‘When it works well, residents of communities are better off for it,' he said. ‘The LGA is the best example of how it can work. It does not mean everyone agrees, or that we're naive about the differences that we have, but it does mean that when it matters most, those things can be relegated.'When it comes, the restructure will need to do a lot of heavy lifting. While staff inside the organisation may be unhappy, many in local government are rapidly losing confidence. The insider told The MJ: ‘It needs a vet, not a doctor. Because it should just be put out of its misery.'They suggest Killian's departure will mean ‘people won't take the right lesson' from the attempted restructure, blaming the former chief executive for being too brutal or losing the confidence of politicians rather than accepting the need for fundamental change.With the growing issues facing the sector, it is feeling the lack of a strong lobbying voice. Another local government source asked The MJ: ‘Where is the influence [in local government]?'They suggested a potential Burnham government was far more likely to look to the Core Cities or UK Mayors as a voice of the sector – both lean organisations with far fewer staff than the LGA. While efforts to get combined authorities into membership continue, they have yet to come to fruition.A real test will come if Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig – the leader of the LGA Labour Group – wins the Manchester mayoralty. If she fails to bring Greater Manchester Combined Authority into membership, there is little hope others will sign up.It is not all bad news for the LGA. Its annual report lists its lobbying achievements for the year, including multi-year finance settlements, the Government writing off 90% of high needs deficit and £1.4bn funding for SEND and homelessness services.The report reveals a solid financial year, with an operating surplus of £12.1m, up from £9.5m, with income up 16% and an additional £2.3m put into reserves, up from a budgeted £1.5m. It doesn't mean the LGA will not need to change its shape and size but it's not hitting financial collapse just yet.And there is a huge amount of support for both O'Brien and Rowlands to turn around the association.Local Government Information Unit chief executive Jonathan Carr-West told The MJ: ‘There is a huge amount of change going on in the sector – there's reorganisation, there's devolution, there's political change – and all of that is dwarfed by the change in the world: geopolitics, technology, AI, markets, political polarisation.‘This is the moment, more than ever, [that] local government needs a strong and effective voice.‘Everyone who cares about local government should hope that the LGA is able to rediscover a strong, effective voice for local government.'It will, he said, ‘require bold thinking'. ‘This new leadership in place is an opportunity to think again… to think big, to think bold, to make the sorts of changes that will enable the LGA to serve the sector in the way it needs.'‘We should all… hope they succeed.'Interview: New Local Government Association chair Eammon O'Brien tells Heather Jameson that councils must seize the opportunity to reshape public services, tackle long-standing challenges and deliver for their communities.

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LGA CONFERENCE

Steadying the LGA ship

By Heather Jameson | 07 July 2026

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