IT hasn’t really been difficult, these last few months, to devote most of our attention to global affairs, from the climate crisis to the nightly barbarities being visited upon Ukraine.

Closer to home, there is no end of matters to absorb us: Partygate, sexism and sleaze at Westminster, the astounding costs of heating our homes. Even closer, there are long-running controversies over the ferries and SNP secrecy, to say nothing of the shimmering or, depending upon your point of view, worrying prospect of independence.

Against such a backdrop it perhaps comes as a relief to focus on things that do affect our daily lives, and which we have the power to do something about: the state of our schools, the state of our roads, our weekly bin uplifts. The council elections that take place on Thursday are a reminder that all politics is local.

The election leaflets that have been landing without cease on our doormats speak to local candidates’ strengths: dealing with litter problems, getting faulty lifts in high-rises working again, increasing the opening hours at leisure centres, campaigning for safe walking routes. Time and again are their local connections stressed.

As we continue to recover from pandemic-induced stasis, it’s tempting to see the May 5 elections as a key component of the process. They are not about the national issues mentioned above: they’re about the things that actually matter to us on a day-to-day basis; they’re about enhancing local democracy and accountability, and keeping it alive.

Naturally, they have been hijacked by national politicians seeking advantage: as our Scottish political editor, Tom Gordon, has pointed out, Nicola Sturgeon and Anas Sarwar have urged voters to send a message to Downing Street about the cost of living; Ruth Davidson wants the elections to deliver a message to Sturgeon. And so on, and on. The Union, of course, hovers over other issues.

Would it have been unrealistic to have expected the major parties to have sat on the independence issue for the duration of the campaign?

Without a shadow of a doubt; and, equally, many voters will use their vote on Thursday to express anger over the cost of living, or the ferries fiasco, or the illicit parties held at Westminster during lockdown.

But it’s worth asking why people put themselves forward for seats on local councils in the first place. The website localcouncillor.scot yields interesting first-hand testimonies. “I was interested in the council but I didn’t think the council necessarily represented me and my friends”, says one Shetlands councillor.

“Sometimes you come across policies that are clearly rooted in the principles and priorities of the past, and no longer speak to our communities today, not respond to the voices of lived experience”, says Aberdeenshire councillor Alison Evison; such policies can be changed, she added, and made relevant.

And, of course, there is the satisfaction that comes from giving local people a voice, and improving services. Our columnist Andy Maciver was right to point out that local elections should be much more important than they are, because local authorities are responsible for most of the things which affect people in their day-to-day lives.

As with national politics so, too, with local politics. A handful of Thursday’s 2,500-plus candidates have been exposed as charlatans, but nothing can mask the fact that the vast majority of those who are standing are ordinary, decent people who wish to serve their communities.

The parties, however, ought to be more stringent in vetting candidates’ histories.

In her thoughtful COSLA presidential speech a few months ago, councillor Evison said that local government did a herculean amount of invaluable work in responding to the pandemic.

Furthermore, on the theme of Living Well Locally, councils worked hard to create the conditions that made it possible for Scots – in villages, towns and cities, in rural areas and islands – to do just that.

Evison also touched on more sensitive issues: the erosion of councils’ core budget and the increasing centralisation of services and national policy direction. All of these are challenges for local government.

There is no doubt that Scottish councils are suffering under the weight of real, long-term cuts in spending. Funding is absolutely key. Councils must be given more powers to raise tax locally.

While, to take just one example, the workplace parking tax was understandably unpopular (it was part of a Scottish Government bid to force more people out of their cars), it was a potent reminder of the fact that local authorities must have the ability to react to local conditions. If their solutions are unpopular, they can be voted out.

It will not be a surprise if, come next weekend, many mainland councils end up remaining under no overall control. The main parties have been squabbling about the desirability of coalitions, ruling out certain potential partners before a vote has even been cast. Anas Sarwar has taken the controversial step of banning coalitions with the SNP and Conservatives, even though Scottish Labour currently governs in several councils across Scotland in alliance with the nationalists. If coalitions result from Thursday’s elections, so be it. Done properly and diligently, they can be vital and healthy forces at local level.

Will Thursday’s turnout be an improvement on the local elections on 2017? Then, the figure was a gratifying 46.9% – the highest turnout for standalone Scottish council elections for several decades, as one expert political observer noted shortly afterwards. It was, perhaps, a reflection of heightened political awareness on the part of

Scottish voters in the aftermath of the independence referendum three years earlier.

Despite voters’ current, broad disenchantment with politicians as a class, it is to be hoped that the turnout on May 5 will surpass the 2017 figure. It only takes a few minutes to cast your vote on Thursday, between 7am and 10pm. The Herald and award-winning investigative journalism co-operatitive The Ferret will be looking at the work of local government shortly. A strong, positive turnout five days from now will help ensure that it cannot be labelled as the Cinderella of Scottish politics.

Census muddle

MOST civic-minded Scots filled in their 2022 census on time, even if they were perturbed by (admittedly voluntary) questions relating to sexual orientation and transgender status. It is disconcerting that a quarter of households have yet to respond. The deadline has now been extended to May 31.

The census is at risk of turning into a shambles. Were there too many questions? Did the fact that it was chiefly conducted online count against it? Did it have the essential publicity? It would be pity if the episode further damaged our faith in our institutions.

CENSUS

In danger of being a shambles. Certainly over-many questions – that don’t seem that relevant. Society has changed a lot over the last few years of the pandemic with distrust of institutions higher than ever. That made it all the more important that the census was simple to fill in with relevant questions. That one quarter haven’t filled it in yet is deeply worrying.