From potholes to planning: key issues in England’s 2 May local elections

The city recently announced plans for drastic spending cuts, but few areas are immune to what Birmingham’s council leader, John Cotton, has called the “forest fire raging through local government”.

“In principle, local authorities have control over these things but, in practice, we’re so centralised all of that is covered by budget decisions made in national government,” says Paul Swinney, the director of policy at the Centre for Cities thinktank.

The Tories are well aware of their political potency, too – Rishi Sunak’s government recently promised to recycle some of the funds allocated for the scrapped HS2 line into filling holes in roads across the country.

Like clattering over potholes, the struggle to get a GP appointment or support a sick family member is an immediate and vivid illustration of what is not working in the UK – and may well colour voters’ views, even where councils are not directly involved.

Pollsters are watching closely to see whether the Conservative mayors Andy Street, in the West Midlands, and Ben Houchen, in Tees Valley, can buck their party’s dire national standing and win another term.

The metro mayors hold a patchwork of responsibilities that have deepened over the years – with Greater Manchester and the West Midlands due to receive block grant-style funding under new “trailblazer” devolution deals, creating even more powerful roles.