Distinctive Dispatch #25: Can local leaders rise to the collaboration challenge?
Our hopes for clear, collaborative leadership; how colleagues stay creative; housing crisis reaches the airwaves; catch our updates from UKREiif.
Better comms for people, places and work
The phrase ‘seizing the narrative’ is so frequently and clumsily used that it lacks any serious meaning.
Strong narratives matter, of course. But too many are just a list of stuff, penned by committee without enough thought for the intended recipients. And, without action to match, they’re often little more than slogans. Purposeful communicators can bridge the gap between clever messages and action with impact.
This newsletter strikes a hopeful note for those taking up the challenge of local leadership afresh from today (2 May 2025) after the local elections. Our thanks go to all who support them, without fanfare, and the many journalists reporting local votes throughout the evening.
As ever, we hope you find our newsletter useful. If you have thoughts or suggestions on what you’d like us to cover in future, let us know in the comments or get in touch.
Trust, clarity, action – how local leaders can make a difference
As we publish this newsletter, voters across England await the outcome of county and mayoral elections.
It’s an important day for us in Bristol and Exeter, as we digest results of voting in the West of England Combined Authority and Devon County Council elections. We’re keeping clients updated on these outcomes and votes in other areas including Gloucestershire.
In the West of England, Helen Godwin today becomes the region’s third mayor, beating Reform’s Arron Banks by 51,197 votes (25% of turnout) to 45,252 (22.1%). As predicted, low turnout of around 30% suggests this result sits against a backdrop of apathy and mistrust.
And it’s true that the West of England Combined Authority faced challenges under mayor Dan Norris’ leadership even before he was arrested and banned from the organisation’s offices. Government placed it in special measures for nearly a year in March 2024, triggered by strained relationships and public in-fighting among the region’s three main local council leaders.
We know that the region’s collaboration challenge – which Ben’s written about before - has frustrated business leaders for years. We had the opportunity to quiz some candidates about this during recent hustings on the housing crisis.
In Devon, the county council stages its final election before the two tier local goverment system is scrapped. The incumbent Conservative administration has grappled with the Devon and Torbay devolution deal’s limited £16 million funding alongside these reorganisational pressures. The council’s financial stability has stoked concern for public services, with its balance sheet ranked last out of 21 comparable county councils.
This is the strained context into which new local leaders step. How they lead will be crucial in bringing areas together to present a coherent, credible voice for their regions.
Why good leadership matters
Local leaders have a lot on their agendas to tackle social, financial, technological and environmental challenges.
To succeed, they should focus on building local trust. This requires strong, emotionally intelligent leadership, supported with clear communication.
Engaging residents and businesses and laying out a clear vision - where are we heading? - are critical first steps for any newly elected leader. But true leadership also means listening to community and stakeholder views and creating space for collaboration to take hold.
In a reputational sense, it’s also about making sure words – however well crafted – are matched by action. This is essential to building trust over time. And as we’ve seen repeatedly, if you get it wrong, people tune out.
With slim majorities, as public discourse coarsens, it’s a good time to bring people together locally. We share with our new leaders some key principles to lay foundations for success. Communities and businesses deserve nothing less.
Be authentic
We heard during hustings how candidates want to ‘tell our story better’, to move things forward. But audiences are quick to see through empty claims.
To build confidence, leaders need to start by sharing a vision that’s honest and relatable. This may not be all things to all people, but it must set out the journey and the end destination.
Leaders must go beyond slogans and demonstrate delivery against their campaign pledges to maintain and build support.
If things slip, we hope they explain why rather than duck it. Spinning when things get tough may address immediate headline pressures. But every time spin happens, public trust takes another hit.
Connect locally
It’s not what you say, it’s how and where you say it. This is why we always advise to go where the people are, not where you want them to be.
Regional mayors face a big challenge of leading a new round of spatial planning for their areas, to shape major new housing and transport projects over the course of the next generation.
The West of England hasn’t had a happy record of spatial planning over the last decade with previous attempts failing to reach consensus. With housing in parts of the region less affordable than anywhere else outside London, we can’t afford to waste any more time.
If we’re going to move beyond abstract conversations about blobs on maps this time, we need to invest serious effort in building relationships to tackle big challenges together. We’ll return to this point on our website soon.
Communicate two ways
Communication isn’t just about talking; listening matters too. Regional mayors and local leaders should start by seeking their teams’ feedback and holding collaborative discussions with stakeholders to understand what’s working well and what needs fixing.
This is essential if we are to agree messages that stakeholders can get behind and government and investors take seriously.
We also hope that any consultations in big ticket areas like spatial planning draw on feedback from earlier discussions. This will enable progress rather than drawn-out discussions about process.
It also provides foundations for actively listening widely to public feedback and responding meaningfully.
Leading with purpose
Following today’s results, clear leadership supported by human communication can help to rebuild bridges to support thriving regions.
Reform’s performance in these elections, beating Conservatives into fourth place in the West of England, scared Labour campaigners a bit. For Helen to win against a bleak backdrop took a tremendous effort. Now the hard work really starts for the new mayor and her team.
We wish her and all those elected every success in their role. Leadership is a huge responsibility and can change things for the better. While the global picture troubles us, cities and towns remain places where great things can happen if people pull together.
We’re up for being part of that and will continue to support positively wherever we can.
Photo in header is by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.
Dispatch on tour! Catch our updates from UKREiif
Many readers are familiar with UKREiif, the big UK conference for built environment professionals held in Leeds later this month.
Attended by around 20,000 delegates, the conference takes place against a backdrop of fresh interest in the sector from a government looking to ‘build, build, build’.
We travel to Leeds with a media pass and a reporter’s hat, to cover things that interest our contacts – places, projects, people, opportunities and challenges. We have great stories lined up already with organisations planning announcements and leading the conversation at the event.
Look out for our daily updates from 20 May. And, if you’re going and want to catch up, drop us a line.
Things we’ve seen
Create on LinkedIn: This new mini-site includes posting tips, best practices, and examples to improve your LinkedIn presence. There are some great resources here for those looking to learn. And if you’re looking for support with your company LinkedIn page, we can help with that.
Things we’ve read
Breaking the silence – No Mercy, No Malice: Scott Galloway pulls no punches in this takedown of corporate America’s muted response to Donald Trump’s moves against policy areas that they readily championed until now. In doing so, he argues they are they missing an opportunity to build lasting loyalty. As Galloway states, leadership means doing the right thing when it’s hard. His interview with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is also worth a listen.
Things we’ve heard
Successfully navigating a restructure - Third Sector Podcast: Our client Nine Feet Tall shares tips on organisational design on this popular podcast. Partner and third sector lead Tiggy McCool gives practical advice for charities, which also translates for businesses navigating a restructure and considering their organisational setup. We were pleased to support Nine Feet Tall in securing this opportunity and capturing highlights for their blog.
Money Box Live: Social Housing: Leading with the stark statistic that housing waiting lists in some parts of England exceed 100 years, with private rents rocketing, this look at the affordability crisis feels long overdue. It’s striking for those of us who’ve worked in the sector for some time how the collapse of genuinely affordable housing provision is only now moving into public view. Any local leader who starts addressing this challenge deserves to be in office for a long time.
Things we’ve said
Fuelling creativity in communications: Finding time and space to think and create great content isn’t easy when other things get in the way. Our team each share their habits and rituals to help them stay creative and inspired.
Supporting urgent fund-raising call for St Anne’s House: As a trustee of the charity Bricks, Ben spoke on BBC Radio Bristol on Easter Monday about funding challenges facing St Anne's House, which the organisation runs. St Anne’s House provides a vital connection point and brilliant activity for thousands of people in the Brislington area of the city. St Anne’s House faces rocketing bills and security costs following a spate of break-ins, which put the team under pressure. We were delighted to support a fund-raising campaign which raised more than £30,000 to maintain activity there. Catch Ben’s interview with Joe Sims below. Thanks to local media for their interest in the campaign.
We look forward to sharing daily updates from UKREiif later this month. If you’d like to share or discuss anything, please leave a comment or get in touch.