Local elections in England – Ask your candidates to support leisure time music

Many parts of England will be going to the polls in May 2026, and candidates are preparing to get on the campaigning trail, canvassing for your vote. It’s a great opportunity to get face to face with future decision makers in your area, to tell them about music making and performance in your area, and what they can do if they are elected to improve things for your group and all leisure time music in your community.  

Local elections for over 5,000 council seats and 6 local authority Mayors will take place on Thursday 7 May. There will be elections in 136 local authorities, including all London Boroughs. Over 300 parish and town councils across England will also hold elections. You can check what’s happening in your area on the Electoral Commission website

The decision makers at local authority level often have much more impact on your music activity than government does. As most Making Music members don’t receive any funding, it’s the infrastructure provided in your local area that is supporting you – or not. From the spaces you rehearse and play in, the libraries you borrow music from, the Arts officer that organises cultural events, to the bus you catch to a concert; the services controlled by local authorities are the ones your groups most rely on.  

Your councillors, mayors and other decision makers need to hear of your needs, particularly during this campaign period if they want to get elected, or re-elected. So if you get a chance to speak to them, do you know what you will ask them to do? We’ve produced some Doorstep Asks for you as a suggestion, so you can start a conversation about the actions local authorities can take that will help your music group to flourish.  

Download our doorstep asks:

Start a conversation 

During campaigning, you may meet candidates on your local high street or at a community space, at a hustings event, or knocking on your front door. You can also email candidates or message them on social media; check out fliers that come through your door, or their campaign websites for contact details. Start the conversation by giving them some context about how important your music group is to you and your community and then get to your asks.  

Introduce your group 
Who is in it; numbers, demographics, where they live. How you are organised: run by volunteers, self-financing, part of a bigger organisation etc. What you do; rehearsals, concerts, workshops. What spaces you use; for rehearsing and performing. Big achievements; anniversaries, fundraisers, commissions, education work.  

Introduce Making Music
Making Music is the UK’s membership organisation for leisure-time music. The membership is around 4,000 groups, from large established orchestral and choral societies to small emerging community groups and includes festivals and concert promoting societies. There are groups in every local authority, run mostly by volunteers for non-professional music makers and community audiences. We represent around 250,000 people, playing trumpets to sitar, symphonies to samba, singing barbershop to opera, aged 3 to 93. Search for groups in your constituency here with our find a group tool  

Doorstep Asks for Candidates

Spaces

Will you protect and develop spaces for music performance in our area? 
Making Music members use a range of spaces to perform in; concert halls, theatres and arts centres, but mostly churches, schools, community halls. Local authority budget cuts and rising costs have led to closures and increasing hire costs. If the spaces you use are threatened, ask if funding and protecting these spaces through planning is a priority for candidates.  

Will you protect and develop spaces for music rehearsals and workshops in our area?  
Church, school and community halls are the 3 most commonly used spaces for rehearsals and workshops, and access to these spaces may also be a challenge. Spiralling hire costs are a serious issue, or there may just not be enough spaces with the facilities and access you need.  

Infrastructure

Will you improve / protect the transport infrastructure music groups rely on? 
Public transport, parking and other travel infrastructure has a big impact on people travelling to rehearsals and audiences to concerts. Bringing people into city and town centres to socialise has a positive benefit for the local economy; people attending your events will also use shops, restaurants and pubs. Talk to your candidates about transport issues in your area.  

Will you protect the library services that music groups rely on? 
If your group borrows sheet music from a public library, talk to candidates about how valuable that service is. Often, there is a move to close music libraries when budgets get tight. Also ask about your library if they support you in other ways, to host events or advertise your concerts. 

Connect and celebrate

How will the local authority (continue to) connect and support cultural activity? 
Support for community cultural activity varies hugely across the country. If your local authority has a culture plan, staff support (e.g. an Arts Officer) or funding for groups like yours, talk about how valuable this is to you. If not, talk about the support you would like to see, including (at no or little cost to them) promotion, e.g. on their website, in their social media. 

How will the local authority (continue to) celebrate cultural activity? 
Festivals and other community cultural celebrations have a positive impact on community cohesion and well-being. They also have a proven impact on local economies, bringing in visitors and encouraging people to come to live and work in an area. Talk to candidates about the events your group takes part in and values, or what you would like to be developed, e.g. Make Music Day on 21 June in a public space in your town/city/area.