A guide to council elections in Shropshire

Turn out at Shropshire Council's last election was 38.5%

The people who decide how council tax is spent on things like social care, fixing potholes and bin collections are up for election next month.

All 74 seats on Shropshire Council will be up for grabs when polling stations open at 07:00 BST on 1 May.

The authority's precarious financial situation is likely to continue to dominate decision-making after the elections have taken place.

Around a third of electors in England are eligible to vote, and more than 1,600 councillors will be elected.

What does Shropshire Council do?

Since 2009, Shropshire Council has been a unitary authority, handling all local services including education, social care, roads, libraries, leisure centres and waste collections.

Funding pressures in recent years have left it close to bankruptcy and meant many departments have had their budgets reduced to meet rising demand for adult and children's social care.

The council area is made up of more than 150 town and parish councils, which will also hold elections next month.

How are decisions made by Shropshire Council?

The authority is made up of 74 councillors, elected every four years.

As with general elections, most of the candidates standing align with a mainstream political party.

After the election, the ruling group will choose a leader whose job is to form a top team of councillors known as the cabinet, which sets the council's priorities and head up departments run by officers.

The council also has various committees, which make recommendations and scrutinise cabinet policies and decisions.

Will the Conservatives retain control in Shropshire?

Although Shropshire residents have largely voted Conservative at previous elections, next month's vote is probably the hardest to predict in the authority's 16-year history.

The Conservatives cannot enter this election presuming success. The group has hung on to its majority by just one seat following a number of disappointing by-election results and defections.

The trend of national opinion polls and data from the county's 2024 general election results suggest the Conservative group may find retaining control challenging.

The Liberal Democrats, the second largest group on the council, hope to do well, especially in North Shropshire where MP Helen Morgan toppled the Conservatives in 2021 by-election and built on her success at the general election last year.

The Lib Dems came a close second in South Shropshire as well, while Labour gained at the Conservative's expense by winning the Shrewsbury seat.

Reform UK came third in all three constituencies, receiving 16% of the vote share.

The Green Party also hopes to build on its success at the last council election, in which it gained three seats in Shrewsbury and Oswestry.

What are the important issues for Shropshire voters?

Residents can vote according to the services that most matter to them, such as the state of the roads, or the cost of council tax.

They might also be swayed to vote for a party's financial plan.

For voters in Shrewsbury, the controversial North West Relief Road (NWRR) could be on their minds.

While the Conservative group is keen to have it built, the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green Party have all said they would withdraw the funding application if elected.

Reform UK's view is more nuanced, with the group being "pro-road", but concerned about the cost of the NWRR.

Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road would cross the River Severn

How do I vote?

All eligible residents will need to be on the electoral register, which can be applied for online or via a council office by 11 April.

They can then decide whether to vote by post, by proxy, or in person at a polling station.

This will be the first full Shropshire Council election in which voter ID is required.

Polling stations will be open from 07:00 to 22:00 and votes counted the following day, with all results expected by the evening.