Elections crucial for shape of 'mega-councils' to come

"FOR I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice in what I am creating..."

- Chris Game

Remind you of any prominent modern-day politician? Don't worry; we shall return.

My personal worry, as a columnist with a strictly academic interest in local elections, is that UK elections always happen on Thursdays - Post publication day, at the end of the campaign period, but before a single result is known.

Meaning that all one can do is speculate, knowing that by the time one's observations are read, the actual result(s) will probably be known and checkable.

And, extra frustrating this year, with none of our council and mayoral elections being in the metropolitan West Midlands area in which most Post readers live and vote.

What follows, then, is an ultra-brief overview of the election scenarios in the non-metropolitan West Midlands region that I personally shall be watching as potentially the most interesting and/or important.

First, the big picture - or picturette. For, with it being a county, rather than district, election year, and with many of these elections being postponed due to the Government's impending local government reorganisation, this is the smallest set of UK local elections, in terms of the number of councillors up for election, for 50 years.

Just 23 of England's 317 local authorities, but quite a mix, and more than enough to cause problems for the losers: 14 county councils, eight unitaries, one metropolitan district, the Isles of Scilly, plus six elected mayors.

Typical, you're possibly thinking, he's overlooked the thousands of town and parish councils. I haven't, but only very recently has there been any attempted national collation of their election stats, and this year's aren't yet available. Sorry!