Letter: Voters Should Choose Who Will Represent Them Best on Local Issues

Published on: 3 May, 2026
Updated on: 3 May, 2026

From Maddy Redpath

R4GV borough councillor for Castle ward

As the West Surrey local elections approach, voters are being told via a sponsored social media post: this election “isn’t about the government in Westminster” but about choosing local councillors responsible for everyday services – our roads, waste collection, planning, housing, and social care.

That message, recently promoted by the Liberal Democrats, is correct. Local elections should be about local issues and local people. As every local election should be.

But it also represents a striking change in tone.

For years, local campaigning in Guildford has increasingly been framed along party-political lines, with voters encouraged to think less about individual candidates and more about “party colours”; who is best placed to win, and which party needs to be stopped.

The Liberal Democrats have been central to promoting this kind of tactical voting narrative, presenting themselves as the only viable option and discouraging support for other candidates, including residents’ groups and Independents. This election has been no different.

Now, however, as that dominance is more openly challenged, the message appears to have shifted. We are told this election is not about Westminster. Yet campaign leaflets continue to feature national politicians, attacks on figures such as Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, and prominent references to MPs. At the same time, voters are still being encouraged, implicitly or explicitly, to make “tactical” choices.

This is a contradiction that many residents are already noticing.

While I have been door knocking across Guildford borough over the years, I have spoken to voters who say they feel they cannot support local residents’ candidates, even when they want to, because they have been told by the Lib Dems that they are the only option. That is not a reflection of local democracy at its best; it is the result of years of messaging that puts party advantage ahead of individual merit.

If this election truly is about local services, then voters should be free to choose based on who will actually represent them best—who understands their area, who is accountable to their community, and who will focus on practical outcomes. That may be a party candidate, or it may be someone standing outside the party system altogether.

Guildford has a strong tradition of community-led representation. Residents’ groups and independent candidates exist precisely to keep local decision-making grounded in the needs of the people who live here, not shaped by national political strategy.

You cannot have it both ways. You cannot spend years encouraging people to vote based on party labels and national narratives at local elections, only to argue – when it becomes convenient – that none of that matters and this is purely about local issues.

Voters in Guildford deserve consistency, honesty, and respect for their ability to make up their own minds – for all elections, not just when it suits.

This election, and all elections, should be about people, not party colours. And it should be decided on local merit.