What is a local election?

There are different elections you can vote in.

A general election is when you vote to choose who you want to be the Member of Parliament (MP) for your local area.

You can find out more about general elections on our What is a General Election? easy read page.

A local election is when you vote to choose who you want to be your local councillor.

This easy read is about local elections.

Your local councillor is part of your local council.  

Sometimes local councils are called local government or local authorities .

Your local council decides things like:

• how often your rubbish is collected
   
• how to look after the roads in your area
   
• what leisure centres there are in your area.

Local councils get their money from different places.  These include:

• the Government
• Council Tax
• Business rates.  Business rates is money which people who own buildings like pubs, shops and offices have to pay.

Different councillors will have different ideas about the best way to spend the money and how to run local services.