We are delivering an ambitious strategy to ameliorate loneliness, enhancing our environment by planting 5,000 trees over the course of four years – and still managing to keep our Council Tax rates low compared to our neighbouring London authorities. As a result, residents tell me they feel they live in a secure, vibrant and safe corner of Britain.

And, trust me, when you’re on the doorsteps asking people for their vote, this kind of response makes all the difference. The Tories, I believe, have long had a great knack for delivering these outcomes.

Flagship Conservative councils like Wandsworth and Westminster were well-known for delivering enviably low Council Tax bills while keeping their books balanced before going Labour in the 2022 local elections amid a backlash against the Tories. So how do we recapture that magic across the board, and make the lives of local residents better in councils up and down the country?

The Social Market Foundation’s recent report, Understanding Populism, is particularly apt, given that it examined areas where the Reform UK party performed best at the General Election – stealing the march from the Conservatives as well as Labour.

Among other findings, it revealed that those places that felt positively about shared spaces like high streets produced lower-than-predicted swings for Nigel Farage’s insurgent party.

Issues that could curb the populist tide included combating crime and antisocial behaviour, expanding educational opportunities and ensuring that the proceeds of economic growth were tangibly felt by local communities.

One particular standout finding was that areas that had received – or even, that had just been pledged – Levelling Up funding recorded lower than expected vote shares for Reform. Where Conservatives can, they should embrace the potential of regeneration but, crucially, in a way whereby local communities feel they have a stake in the outcome.

Many serving councillors and council officers of all political colours will insist they’re doing these things already, but need more money from central government. And they’re absolutely right.

I know from personal experience how hard many local authorities are working to deliver. But they desperately need the Labour government to increase funding for councils, and put flesh on the bones of the pledges made by the Government in 2024 about changing their predicament in the long-term.

So far there is little sign of that happening, and sadly, I believe many teetering local authorities have further to fall. But hope springs eternal and I would also point out that the Conservatives wider vision should be articulated nationally. We live in a time of great turbulence, fear and cynicism of politics and, indeed, of the world around us.

Reform thrives amid that discontent. As Luke Tryl, director of consultancy More in Common UK, said recently, Reform is fast becoming the “none of the above” party. Meanwhile, Labour appears unable to effectively communicate a coherent vision for Britain’s future, and when it tries, it seems to fall on deaf ears.

Given that, there is clearly a political vacuum that needs to be filled locally. And I believe there is a real opportunity for the Conservatives to fill it. At their best, the Tories are the party of opportunity, aspiration and optimism about how great Britain is and can be – and history shows how that the party is often the vehicle that has given the UK hope in times of strife and confusion.

We now need to communicate that message of hope from our town halls upwards to Westminster. We need to passionately demonstrate the impact we can have on real people and real lives where we still hold the levers of power.

The end result could be something akin to political gold dust – at long last, giving our disaffected voters the sense of optimism they so clearly crave and deserve.

Josh Coldspring-White is the Communications Officer for the Social Market Foundation and a Tory councillor for Hayes & Coney Hall in the London Borough of Bromley