May 2026 UK elections

Millions of voters across the UK are going to the polls in May, to elect members of the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru, and representatives to 136 local authorities in England. Campaigning periods are a great time for constituents to speak to future decision makers about leisure time music, and what they can do to make sure the environment for leisure-time music making is protected and improved.

Find out if there are elections in your area on the Electoral Commission website

In the run up to polling day on Thursday May 7th, we’re encouraging our members to speak to their candidates wherever they get the chance. You might meet them face to face – at a hustings, outside the supermarket, or they might knock on your door. You might rather email candidates or message them on social media. However you start the conversation, we’re encouraging you to talk about your music group, the wider leisure time music environment in your area and what your representatives can do to help protect and develop music for the benefit of all.

Find out about your candidates on the Who Can I Vote For website

Once you’ve started your conversation, what will you ask these future representatives of yours to do if they are elected? Making Music has prepared some Doorstep Asks - key things you could talk to candidates in your area about that we think would make a big difference for your group, and all members in your constituency or nation. We’ve focussed these on things that newly elected members or councillors will have power to act on – cultural legislation, spaces for music making, and other infrastructure like public transport and libraries. They are different for Scotland, Wales and England. Read and download these here:

As a member of Making Music or any leisure-time music group, you are not only speaking for yourself and your group. The membership is around 4,000 groups in the UK, 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. Together we are fortissimo!

Search for groups in your constituency with our Find a Group tool