Pledge to Oppose Austerity in Local Government
Local councils are in crisis. The Labour government still has not done enough.
Since 2010, local government has endured over a decade of austerity. Central government funding for local councils has been cut by more than half in real terms. Local services have been cut to the bone, public spaces and assets are sold off, council taxes continue to go up and community organisations have been ignored.
Under Labour, things are not getting better. The latest Local Government Finance Settlement restores only a fraction of the central government funding lost since 2010. Meanwhile, the Fair Funding Review means that some councils are being hit with a fresh wave of austerity.
Councils will remain unable to properly fund social care, libraries, community centres, parks and nature protection, support for disabled children, or the construction of new – or the restoration of existing – council homes. This is driving resource-led decision making, where budgets are failing to respond to real need, and public money is often spent poorly. Resources flow into crisis responses, private providers and consultancy profits and ineffective ‘consultation’ over preventative, community-based support that improves lives in the long-term.
Many councils are already on the brink of bankruptcy. Any council that fails to set a balanced budget has its finances taken over by central government, reducing council services to below the bare essentials.
We reject this managed decline of our communities.
As candidates in the May 2026 local elections, we make the following pledge, should we be elected:
- Hold an emergency summit to make our communities heard
We will hold an emergency national summit following the elections with willing councillors, MPs, community organisations and trade unions to make the unmet needs of residents visible and build a cross-party, mass campaign to restore local government funding. - Community organisation and mobilisation
We will push for a programme of public engagement within our local areas to bring residents into the big decisions about how to handle this crisis. Through local assemblies and national demonstrations we will build on existing community organising to help make the case for the long-term solutions that have so far been ignored: a wealth tax, rent controls, a national care service, a land value tax, and other solutions. - Democratic control of local assets
We will support new approaches that shift power over housing, assets and financial decision-making into the hands of local communities, from participatory budgeting to Popular Assets Commissions to build community ownership. Working with trade unions, housing unions, the cooperative economy, and voluntary sector organisations, we will renegotiate (or end) bad deals with big corporations, stem the tide of profit extraction and start to put power and resources back to the community. - Transparency over spending and responsible use of financial powers
We will open the books on council spending, and pursue innovative revenue-raising mechanisms as well as reserves and borrowing powers. We will push for transparency in how need is assessed, resources are allocated and unmet need is recorded in future budget-setting.
By signing this pledge, we are committing to putting the needs of our communities first and fighting to ensure local government has the funding and powers it needs to provide residents with the services they deserve.
Cllr Zoë Garbett, London Assembly Member and candidate for Mayor of Hackney
Cllr Liam Shrivastava, candidate for Mayor of Lewisham
Cllr Benali Hamdache, Leader of the Independent and Green Group, Islington
Cllr Rob White, Green Group Leader, Reading
Cllr Diana Moore, Green Group Leader, Exeter
Cllr Jo Walker, Cabinet Member for Environment and Neighbourhood Wellbeing, Hastings
Cllr Grainne Rason, Cabinet Lead for Coastal, Climate and Nature Recovery, Havant
Cllr Stephen Ferguson, Executive Councillor for Resident Services and Corporate Performance, Huntingdonshire
Jamie Driscoll, former Mayor of North of Tyne
Cllr Gerry Thompson, Adur
Cllr Moin Quadri, Barking & Dagenham
Cllr Linda Lusingu, Barnet
Cllr Lorna Jane Russell, Camden
Cllr Esther Reeves, Coventry
Cllr Lynn Wetenhall, Exeter
Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, Hackney
Cllr Mark Blake, Haringey
Cllr Ruairidh Paton, Haringey
Cllr Amanda Jobson, Hastings
Cllr Ed Carlisle, Leeds
Cllr Hau-Yu Tam, Lewisham
Cllr Nick Hartley, Newcastle
Cllr Shasha Khan, Reigate and Banstead
Cllr Richard Bennett, Richmond
Cllr James McAsh, Southwark
Cllr Reginald Popoola, Southwark
Cllr Fiona Miller, Sunderland
Cllr Lucy Musk, Welwyn Hatfield
Full list
Gerry Thompson, Adur
Cameron Camiña, Barnet
Stephen Last, Barnet
Charli Thompson, Barnet
George Ttoouli, Barnet
Zengha Wellings-Longmore, Brent
Najib Warsame, Brent
Ruth Fabricant, Bromley
Volodymyr Lukyanov, Camden
Matthew Parsfield, Camden
Lorna Jane Russell, Camden
Anne Calderbank, Chorley
Amy Kirkby-Taylor, Colchester
Kolapo Abubakar, Coventry
Steve Bingham, Coventry
Chrissie Brown, Coventry
Barbara Collins, Coventry
Martin Day, Coventry
Tramore Masterson Lawrence, Coventry
Sujatha Misala, Coventry
Esther Reeves, Coventry
Michael Roberts, Coventry
Janet Roberts, Coventry
Julia Rosenthal-Campuzano, Coventry
Seb Rumsby, Coventry
Amy Worrall, Coventry
Rachael Douglas, Coventry
Alex Grainger, Coventry
Matt Greenhalgh, Coventry
Callum Mace, Coventry
Steel Horton, East Surrey
Martin Ayres, Exeter
Brian Rappert, Exeter
Lynn Wetenhall, Exeter
Stella Smith, Exeter
Bernadette Chelvanayagam, Exeter
Diana Moore, Exeter
Caroline Russell, Greater London Authority
Charlene Concepcion, Hackney
Jas Crowe, Hackney
Laura-Louise Fairley, Hackney
Zoë Garbett, Hackney
Georgia Gibson, Hackney
Janet Lee, Hackney
Emma Neath, Hackney
Gemma Peramiquel-Borjas, Hackney
Florence Schechter, Hackney
Ulgen Semerci, Hackney
George Sheldon Grün, Hackney
Reiner Tegtmeyer, Hackney
Reiner Tegtmeyer, Hackney
Catherine Troupp, Hackney
Kwasi Owusu, Hammersmith & Fulham
Ash Ahmed, Haringey
Bethany Anderson, Haringey
Mark Blake, Haringey
Lucas Bouvier, Haringey
Felicity De Motta, Haringey
Fin Fitzgerald, Haringey
Anne Gray, Haringey
Marc Jenner, Haringey
Dan Johnson, Haringey
Dixie-Ann Joseph, Haringey
Max Knowles-Parr, Haringey
Jo Kuper, Haringey
Sumrah Mohammed, Haringey
Charlotte Pink, Haringey
Tay Quartermain, Haringey
Joshua Thomson, Haringey
Georgia Twigg, Haringey
Erin Wolson, Haringey
Amanda Jobson, Hastings
Joanne Walker, Hastings
Grainne Rason, Havant
Ruth Kettle-Frisby, Havering
Piers Holden, Hillingdon
Stephen Ferguson, Huntingdonshire
Elmedina Baptista-Mendes, Islington
Hayden Banks, Islington
Amelia Bottomley, Islington
Patrick Brighty, Islington
Sophia Brown, Islington
Jo Dowbor, Islington
Jara Falkenburg, Islington
Giulio Ferrini, Islington
Benali Hamdache, Islington
Sheridan Kates, Islington
Jorge Latter, Islington
Clara Luz, Islington
Sara Mulatu, Islington
Alex Nettle, Islington
Juancarlos Valero, Islington
Lucas Waelbroeck Boix, Islington
Scott Ainslie, Lambeth
Mark Bittlestone, Lambeth
Michael Chessum, Lambeth
Thomas Palmer, Lambeth
Moin Quadri, Barking & Dagenham
Ed Carlisle, Leeds
Ade Adewunmi, Lewisham
Justin Calcutt Cheadle, Lewisham
Ipek Leni Candan, Lewisham
Samantha Gardiner, Lewisham
Samuel Goggins, Lewisham
Daniel Jenkins, Lewisham
Rebecca Jones, Lewisham
Bernard Mani, Lewisham
Robin McGhee, Lewisham
Maria Mckenna, Lewisham
Markus Michelucci, Lewisham
Fergus Navaratnam-Blair, Lewisham
Ruth Persian, Lewisham
Laura Sessions, Lewisham
Liam Shrivastava, Lewisham
Rotimi Skyers, Lewisham
Edward Sutton, Lewisham
Hau-Yu Tam, Lewisham
Joshua Parkinson, Lincoln
James Brine, Newcastle
Chandni Chopra, Newcastle
Aurora Harrison, Newcastle
Younes Mohammed, Newcastle
Chuck Taylor, Newcastle
Nick Hartley, Newcastle
Frances Hinton, Newcastle
Rory Osborne, Newcastle
Jamie Robinson, Newcastle
Nicholas Simpson, Newcastle
Jamie Driscoll, Newcastle
David Harrison, Newcastle
Maria Maza, Newcastle
Anne Tindale, Newcastle
Anne Tindale, Newcastle
Susie Warburton Brown, Newcastle
Mica Hind, Newcastle
Rob Callender, Newham
Shabd Pyari, Newham
Alfie Davis, Oxford
Elliott Lee, Portsmouth
Ian McCulloch, Portsmouth
Emma Murphy, Portsmouth
Alex de Oliveira Martins, Portsmouth
David Simpson, Portsmouth
Rob White, Reading
Shasha Khan, Reigate and Banstead
Robin Whitwell, Reigate and Banstead
Richard Bennett, Richmond
Paddy Griffith, Richmond
Andy Davies, Sheffield
Dylan Lewis-Creser, Sheffield
Kevin Chuah, Southwark
Rebecca Corn, Southwark
George Grime, Southwark
Simon Heap, Southwark
James McAsh, Southwark
Alastair Ritchie, Southwark
Claire Sheppard, Southwark
Eloise Waldon-Day, Southwark
Kath Whittam, Southwark
Reginald Popoola, Southwark
Fiona Miller, Sunderland
Nick Abear, East Surrey
Alistair Polson, Tower Hamlets
Michael Bankole, Wandsworth
Cameron Joshi, Wandsworth
Alice Cowley-French, Welwyn Hatfield
Tanya Dickson, Welwyn Hatfield
Joshua Hook, Welwyn Hatfield
Lucy Musk, Welwyn Hatfield
Esther Saurigny, Welwyn Hatfield
Brad Taylor, Welwyn Hatfield
David Cox, Welwyn Hatfield