Tony Devenish: We need to crack on with campaigning now for next year’s local elections

Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly.

In my 20th year as a local councillor it is time we addressed head on, why local elections have become little more than referendums on the standing of the national parties (a real life opinion poll every May of circa one third of voters, in contrast to the circa two thirds who may vote at a General Election, in parts of the country), is because Local Government often acts a bit like the small group of mainly old and young men you can find hanging around a railway station, train spotting. A huge interest to a small group of people , but largely irrelevant to most people. We spend way too much time talking to ourselves and a few Resident Association figures. Not enough time talking to the rest of society.

Rather than knock on doors the other day , where you can end up leafletting and speaking to three people, I got on the telephone which enabled me to talk to twenty of the residents in my own Council ward in a little over ninety minutes. Their feedback in what has always been a strong Conservative held ward was not for the faint-hearted. No one thought the country was going the right way, many talked about family members leaving the country , but the message I received loud and clear was what difference could I, as a local councillor with a Labour run Council, Labour Mayor and Labour Government, actually make? Why vote Conservative? Here’s the feedback of the only former Conservative voter under 40 I spoke to:

“I was mugged last year. My watch was stolen. A Policeman did turn up quickly. He just smirked and said you need to buy a new watch. I had to spend hours the next day phoning the Police to obtain the crime number for my insurance claim. The Police never came back to me. And don’t blame Sadiq Khan, you lot ran the country for 14 years.”

That conversation took place the day the news hit the media that Selina Scott was mugged. Ms Scott, a huge television personality 40 years ago when Mrs Thatcher ran the country, couldn’t pop into a bookshop in Piccadilly without being robbed in broad daylight in 2025.

So why vote Conservative on 7th May 2026?

We need to provide this answer right now. In a local context. Not in a Manifesto issued next March, which few will read. And repeat (the message), again and again (and again). On Facebook, on Instagram and on NextDoor, and for the media on X/Twitter. Email, leaflets and direct mail (and phone calls) are vital too. Communicate, communicate and communicate until we are blue in the face. Just saying the public are sick of we Conservatives after 14 years’ of Government (we Conservatives must stop talking ourselves down, there’s plenty of others ready and willing to perform this task) and sick of Labour after just a year is true, but not an excuse to give up and seed ground to other parties.

In Westminster, local Conservatives do have a strong record:

• Just this month we have forced the hopeless Labour run Council (and Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London) to remove the tented village from Park Lane, a national and international annual stain on our great City. It is more than likely that the thug who robbed Ms Scott was an inhabitant of these tents.
• We are fighting the cost of living scandal that the media have quietly dropped since Labour won the General Election. Westminster Labour is trying to double the service charge on council housing. Crippling households with tens of thousands of pounds of debt. Local people appreciate we sort casework unlike Reform UK.
• On new homes for local peopl , the then Conservative-run Council built more housing than any other London Borough. Labour-run Westminster Council have not started a single new home in three years’. A shameful record. You should “have a word” with your Labour colleagues, Deputy Prime Minister.
• Most visibly, ConHome readers who visit London will have noticed filthy bin bag laden streets. ‘Clean streets’ will be our rallying cry as we fight to re-re-take Westminster City Council. Pavement politics matters. Not glamorous, but essential. Ask the residents’ of another Labour Council, Birmingham.

We must get on and select Council candidates now. A six month plus campaign is essential. Elections are won or lost by the early preparation which takes place (or not).

Across the country, but especially in London, May 7th 2026 offers local Conservatives the opportunity to burst the media’s tired narrative. No one is doomed until they give up. Keir Starmer may be toast but Nasty Nigel, the duplicitous Lib Dems and the extreme Greens and Muslim Independents don’t have to have a good night. Only we Conservatives offer value for money council services with local examples of making a real difference.

Thank you to all Conservative councillors and candidates, please do get in touch if I, or our Conservative Councillors Association Chairman, John Cope, can be of assistance. We local government train spotters are team players…