Local elections 2023: What is at stake in Norfolk's local elections?

There are elections taking place on all seven councils in Norfolk this year

For some people local government is probably not the most exciting of subjects but it plays a big part in everyone's lives.

Local councils are responsible for emptying the bins, deciding where new homes are built, looking after the homeless and maintaining parks and public spaces.

The authorities have around 140 other important functions and so the people chosen to be councillors will have a lot of responsibility and power.

There are elections taking place on all seven councils in Norfolk this year.

The Conservatives dominate the politics of the county with large majorities on Breckland, Broadland, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, and South Norfolk councils. The party hold Great Yarmouth with a much smaller majority.

Labour is hoping to take Great Yarmouth from the Conservatives

With every seat on all these authorities being contested the party knows it cannot take anything for granted.

A bad election for the Tories could see them lose their majority on some of these councils and be forced to make alliances with other parties or even be pushed out of power entirely.

Labour, which comfortably holds Norwich City Council, will be focussing a lot of its effort on Great Yarmouth.

A former Labour authority, which once had a Labour MP, it is the sort of place where the party should be making gains and even taking control if it is serious about winning the next general election.

If the Conservatives can fight them off, they will take heart that they can still command support in traditional Labour areas.

Labour will hope to hold to Norwich City Council

The Liberal Democrats also have a strong presence in parts of the county. They are the main opposition in Broadland and South Norfolk and they also control North Norfolk council.

Any further success in the county will be used by the party leadership to claim that it is a true threat to the Tories in so called "Blue wall" seats.

It is also worth noting that the Greens are the main opposition on Norwich City Council and will he hoping to make further gains.

A number of Independent candidates are also standing and could play a key role in several councils if the final result is close.

Because these are local elections, the candidates will try to focus on local issues but it's inevitable that national issues will be in many voters' minds.

This is the biggest test of public opinion since the last general election in 2019 and a lot has happened since then.

It is also a year or so away from the next general election, so all the parties will be poring over these results.

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