One in four Londoners would consider becoming a councillor
Research by Ipsos for London Councils has found that Londoners have relatively low levels of awareness about their council and local politics.
Two in five (42%) residents know which political party is in control of their council. But, only 6% know the name of their local elected leader. With the exception of rubbish collection and recycling, Londoners are unsure about which responsibilities fall under 160the remit of their local council. Almost half (49%) think their council runs the police service and 45% the local hospital. Three in five (60%) think the council is responsible for the Freedom Pass.
The research also found that around a quarter of Londoners are interested in becoming a local councillor, but time and information - and making adifference - are an issue.160 Almost three in ten (29%) Londoners have volunteered time to a club,160 society or charity in the last 12 months. A similar proportion (31%) have taken action to solve a local problem, such as write to a local newspaper, attend a protest meeting or contact a local councillor or MP.
Download the full report here.
Technical note
Results are based on 1,001 completed telephone interviews.160160Fieldwork was carried out between 11th and 18th April 2008.160Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to multiple responses, computer160 rounding or the exclusion of don't knows/not stated.160Data weighted to known demographic variables and for consistency with other160 relevant data collected by Ipsos.
