By Richard Foord

In just a few month's time, we will all have the opportunity to head to our local polling stations and help decide who will represent us on East Devon District Council for the next four years.

Councils are such important bodies. They decide what the rate of Council Tax should be, where taxpayers' money and investment is focused, and are responsible for delivering key services such as social care, road maintenance, and refuse collection.

Put simply – they are the linchpin that helps hold our communities together and can be real engines for change if managed properly.

In recent years we've seen the chaos of Conservative administration replaced by a cross-party Council focused on consensus and engagement. There have of course been tough decisions, particularly given the impact of the pandemic, but pragmatic leadership has prevailed.

I am incredibly pleased that four of the current Cabinet have decided to join the Liberal Democrats and once again fight to be the local champion that their communities deserves. I hope we will see more Lib Dems elected in May, so we can refocus and build on the good work that's been done.

However, when we all go to polling station to cast our vote this year, things will be different. That is because the Conservative Government in London is making it more difficult to vote by introducing new voter regulations.

When you go to the polling station this time, you'll need photo ID in order to exercise your democratic right to choose who represents you. On the face of it this may seem an acceptable inconvenience, but you only need look at the accepted forms of ID to see the real motivation behind this move.

Under the rules, a younger person's bus pass or student card is not regarded as an acceptable form of identity. We know that younger people already vote in smaller numbers, and these new regulations will only further suppress the number of people voting.

Young people deserve to feel that they have a stake in their local community, yet this is a blatant attempt to narrow the electorate and shift the dial in the Conservatives' favour. It also risks disqualifying up to two million people across the country, creating a glaring hole in our democracy.

Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed these measures and just this week I joined with other Lib Dem MPs to table a bill to try and scrap these regulations before the elections in May.

These rules will not only risk people being denied their right to vote and burden our already stretched Council staff with reams of extra paperwork, it also has been introduced to address a problem that simply doesn't exist.

Levels of voter fraud are incredibly low, with just four reports from the 2019 General Election resulting in a criminal conviction. Why should Conservative members be allowed to choose our Prime Minister via an online vote, whilst ordinary people face increased restrictions at our local polling stations?

If you do not have a valid form of photo ID already, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate via the Gov.UK website or from the District Council. The deadline to apply for the Certificate in time for the local elections in May is the 25th April and the deadline to register to vote is 17th April.

Please make sure you apply for a certificate if you do not have a valid form of ID and make sure you're registered to vote so you don't lose your chance to have your say on who will shape the future of our community and represent you as your local Councillors.

Read more:

East Devon councillor labels voter ID requirements 'absolutely terrible'

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