With nominations closed for the local elections taking place on May 1st it is now officially confirmed that the sixth-biggest bloc of candidates – behind Labour, the Tories, Reform, the Lib Dems and the Greens – are those using one of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) descriptions on their ballot paper.
The number of seats up for election in the 23 councils with scheduled contests this May is 1,641, with by-elections taking place in some other councils too. In total there are 102 candidates who are using a TUSC-registered description in these contests – around six percent of the seats – plus a TUSC candidate for the Mayor of Doncaster. The full list is available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Candidates-final.pdf, with the council candidates presented in a regional breakdown.
Most of the candidates appear on the ballot paper with the description Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition next to their name but a number are using the new Independent Trade Union and Socialist Candidate descriptor, including two former Labour councillors in Doncaster.
Every candidate using a TUSC description is committed to stand up to the austerity establishment parties, including Reform, who have all shown themselves to be virtually indistinguishable when it comes to representing the interests of working class people. The TUSC core policy platform for the May council elections – the minimum ‘six guarantees’ that candidates commit to – can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/21300/18-12-2024/our-six-guarantees-for-the-may-2025-local-elections/.
The summary, however, is simple – every one of them will be a stop the new austerity candidate in the May 1st polls.
This is the highest number of trade unionist and socialist candidates that have stood in this four-year election cycle since TUSC’s formation (with elections previously in these seats in 2021, 2017 and 2013) – and the Starmer government is only nine months old. The resistance is growing. ■
There are other candidates who will be taking a similar stance on May 1st who, while not on this occasion appearing on the ballot paper with a TUSC description, will be supported by our coalition. These include a number of candidates appearing on the ballot paper as ‘Independent’ – amongst the 550 or so independents standing this year – who could be properly described as anti-cuts and anti-war candidates. We are currently collating information on these and will publish as comprehensive a list of alternative candidates as possible before polling day.