The local elections on May 1st, covering almost one-third of voters in England, will be a no choice experience for those who make it to the polling station – except in the modest number of seats, just under ten percent of the council wards or divisions with elections, where at least there will be a choice of an anti-cuts, anti-war candidate available.
One hundred and three of these, contesting seats in 21 local authorities in England, are using one of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) descriptions on their ballot paper, plus a candidate for the Mayor of Doncaster. In addition there are at least 26 other candidates who are appearing on the ballot paper as independents or on behalf of a local community party, who are either former Labour Party members – or, sometimes, councillors – who are also standing in opposition to Keir Starmer’s austerity and war agenda. And then there are a further 14 standing for other left-wing parties.
If you really do think that it is time to vote for something different, and you are in one of the seats where there is a chance to do so, why not start on May 1st?
What the candidates stand for
Every candidate using a TUSC description is committed to stand up to the austerity establishment parties who have all shown themselves to be virtually indistinguishable when it comes to representing the interests of working class people. This includes the allegedly ‘mould-breaking’ Reform party, who are fielding 60 former Tories amongst their candidates in May.
Each of the 103 candidates using a TUSC description has their own independent record and views as a trade unionist, a community campaigner, an anti-war protester, a pensioner hit by Labour’s winter fuel allowance cut, or a student fighting for free education. But all of them are pledged to the TUSC six guarantees – what voters should know that any councillor elected under the TUSC banner will do:
● Oppose all cuts and closures to council services, jobs, pay and conditions; or their privatisation or transfer to social enterprises or ‘arms-length’ management organisations which are the first steps to privatisation.
● Reject council tax, rent and service charge increases for working-class people to make up for cuts in government funding.
● Vote for councils to set no-cuts budgets and fight for the money needed from the government to make up any shortfall.
● Refuse to co-operate with any commissioners or ‘envoys’ appointed by the Labour government to attempt to impose cuts on local services.
● Support only democratically debated local Climate Emergency plans that create new employment, build flood defences, and improve air quality and the local environment, while protecting the jobs, pay and living standards of all workers.
● Fight for united working-class struggle against racism, sexism, and all forms of oppression. Back all workers’ struggles against government policies making ordinary people pay for the crisis.
There are also other candidates making similar pledges who should be supported who are standing outside of the TUSC coalition umbrella at this stage. So alongside the candidates using a TUSC description (linked below) we are publishing them in a separate list – to together produce the most comprehensive a guide as possible of where you can vote for ‘Stop the new austerity, stop the war’ candidates on May 1st! ■
The final list of candidates using one of the TUSC descriptions on the ballot paper on May 1st can be found at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Candidates-final-update.pdf. This is one fewer than in previously published notices due to the sad death of the TUSC candidate, Karen Seymour, in the Mansfield North division of Nottinghamshire County Council – a committed socialist who had consistently stood in district and county seats in the town since 2011. The re-scheduled vote there will now be held in June.
The further record of other anti-cuts and anti-war May election candidates is available at https://www.tusc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Left-Indy-candidates-on-May-1.pdf. The list of independent and community party candidates has been compiled with the help of the Collective, a network involving key supporters of Jeremy Corbyn from his time as Labour leader who are now seeking to build the foundations for a new left political party. The candidates from other left-wing parties are listed for information, as has been the regular practice of TUSC, to promote the idea that a stand against the establishment parties is both necessary and possible.