Key takeaways

  • Roads, including potholes, are most likely to top the public’s list of most important issues in their local area
  • Reform voters are the exception, choosing immigration as their number one local issue
  • The public put the economy/cost of living second in their list of local priorities

With less than a month to go until polling day for a series of local, mayoral and devolved elections across Britain, YouGov explores which issues are top of mind for voters on a local level.

Roads and the economy/cost of living are most concerning for all voters of major parties, except Reform UK

Asked to pick up to three ‘most important’ issues in their local area, roads, including potholes, parking, and congestion (37%), as well as the economy/cost of living (35%), are most likely to top the public’s lists.

Following in third place are NHS GP and hospital services/facilities, at 29%.

These three categories are consistently the top issues for 2024 Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and Green voters, but Reform UK voters prove an exception. While roads and the cost of living still feature prominently for Reform voters, this group are most likely to have said that “immigration” was a top issue for them locally, at 46%.

Reform UK voters also prove more likely than other groups to identify council taxes (22%) as a top issue to them locally, while Green voters stand out for saying that racism and the rise of the far right are a top local issue (23%).

What do different age groups see as the top issues facing their local area?

Britons aged 65 and older are more likely to see roads as a top issue (44%) than their younger peers (33-36%), as well as NHS GP and hospital facilities (36% vs 25-27%).

By contrast, the economy is more likely to be cited as a major problem for those in the under-65 age groups (35-41%) than their over-65 counterparts (25%).

Those aged 18-24 are more likely to say racism and the rise of the far right (22%) and unemployment (20%) is a very important issue locally than their older counterparts.

What do men and women see as the top issues facing their local area?

Men and women tend to answer at similar rates, with the most noticeable differences between the genders being on healthcare, with women more likely to cite NHS GP/ hospital services (35% vs 22% men) and NHS dentist services (17% vs. 11% men) as a top issue than men.

Instead, men are most likely to identify immigration as a major problem locally when compared to women (24% vs 14%).

See the full results here

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Photo: Getty

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