Next week – let ’ s find our voice through the ballot box

In just one week, on Thursday 5 May, UNISON members across the UK will get a chance to cast their votes in elections. Most of the council seats up for election were last contested in 2018. The political landscape of the UK has clearly undergone huge changes in the past four years. From parliamentary gridlock around Brexit to the 2019 general election Tory landslide, from the pandemic to the cost of living crisis, it’s now a different and more challenging world for UNISON members. Clearly many of the issues that can decide local elections remain the same, such as bin collections, the state of neighbourhood parks and pavements, and access to libraries and other local public services. These issues are important for UNISON, because it’s our members who deliver such services and who have seen up close how over a decade of Tory cuts has taken its toll on the ability of councils to deliver for their communities. But such elections are also an important opportunity for voters to send a message to the prime minister and the Westminster government about how effectively they are handling the issues of the day, and how they are conducting themselves in office. This will be the first big electoral test for Prime Minister Boris Johnson since ‘partygate’ – the revelations about parties held at 10 Downing Street during the pandemic. These parties took place at a time when many of our members were on the COVID-19 frontline, and when the vast majority were faithfully followin...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article News local elections Source Type: news