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How to engage with your candidates during the local and devolved nations elections
On Thursday 7 May 2026, local elections will take place across many parts of England. Elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd in Wales will also be held on the same day. This is your opportunity to ask candidates what they will do to reduce alcohol harm in your area.
There are many ways you can share your views on reducing alcohol harm with your local candidates and explain why this issue is important to you. Remember, this is your opportunity to tell your story, in your own words, so choose a way that you feel most confident and comfortable with!
Our top three asks for local elections:
- Meet regularly with people affected by alcohol harm and commit to reducing its impact locally.
- Consult on banning alcohol advertising on council owned spaces and strengthen the use of licensing powers to reduce harm.
- Work with their local MP to support national action on alcohol harm. You can point them to our 2024 General Election manifesto to find out about our recommendations.
On this page, you can find:
Three key actions you can take
1. Meet your candidate in person to share your story
If you’re comfortable doing so, sharing your story can be a powerful way to influence the candidates' priorities and emphasise why it’s vital to address alcohol harm in your local area. You should be able to find the contact information for your candidates on any leaflets that are delivered to you or on this website.
These meetings do not need to be formal - you can arrange to meet them in a setting where you feel most comfortable. For example, you can meet them at their campaign office, in a public coffee shop, or a public event they are attending in your area.
If you’re unable to organise a one-to-one meeting with your candidates, remember that they will be door knocking or canvassing throughout the next few weeks, hopefully giving you another great opportunity to speak to them directly and on your doorstep!
2. Write an email or letter to your candidates
Don’t worry if you’re not comfortable meeting your candidates face-to-face. You can still engage with your candidates by writing a letter or email to them! You might want to share your story and why it is an important issue for you, and you could ask them what commitments they are willing to make to help reduce alcohol harm, if they’re successfully elected as your local representative. We have created a template letter for you to use if helpful.
3. Attend your local hustings event
There may be an organised hustings event in your local area, where candidates will present a quick pitch detailing why you should vote for them and answer questions from the audience. This is a great way to meet your local candidates and ask them to commit to ending alcohol harm if elected. You can check if a hustings or debate event is being held in your local area through your local news platform or emailing your candidates to find out.
Questions to ask your candidates
Please feel free to tailor these questions so you can express your views.
- If elected, how will you represent people in the area who are living with alcohol dependency?
- Will you commit to meeting with people affected by alcohol harm to work together to tackle alcohol harm in our area?
- Can you commit to tackling alcohol harm by supporting a consultation to ban advertising of alcohol in our area?
- Will you support stronger use of licensing powers to reduce alcohol related harm in our area?
- What will you do to ensure residents’ voices are heard and acted on when the council are making decisions on licensing?
- Would you look into embedding Alcohol Change UK’s Blue Light Approach for our local area to help the most high impact drinkers?
Scotland
The 2026 Scottish Parliament election is due to be held on 7 May 2026, and will elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Parliament has power to make laws on a range of issues known as devolved matters. This includes areas that affect alcohol policy like health and social care, transport, housing, justice and policing.
Wales
The 2026 Senedd election is due to be held on 7 May 2026 to elect 96 members to the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament).
Key devolved responsibilities in Wales that affect alcohol harm include health, housing and transport.
You can read about our joint aims to reduce alcohol harm in Wales in our Senedd manifesto.
Frequently asked questions
Depending on the type of election that is happening in your area, your representatives will have different powers to reduce alcohol harm. Broadly, local areas will have powers around restricting alcohol advertising on their own premises, licensing powers and local public health. For example, Southwark, Haringey, Bristol and Sheffield have already banned forms of alcohol advertising on council advertising space. You can point to these as positive examples of what your local council can do as well.
If you live in Liverpool, the local council have mentioned reviewing alcohol advertising after their junk food advertising ban, if you live in the area, why not tell your local candidates that you support an advertising ban?
We understand how important pubs are to your community. Pubs are about a lot more than alcohol - they are about community, connection and coming together. You can still do all this, and support your local, without drinking alcohol - from the brilliant alcohol-free drink selections many pubs now have on offer to enjoying a meal with friends. According to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), over 9 in 10 pubs now have at least one alcohol-free alternative, alongside the wide array of soft drinks - so there’s an ever increasing range of options to ensure you can enjoy socialising - you experiment with activities and make plans without alcohol, an experience many find liberating and just as enjoyable because we’re more present.
In fact, high quality alcohol-free options present a growth opportunity for pubs and hospitality, attracting large groups of people who, for varying reasons, consume less alcohol or are alcohol-free.
You can get in touch with your local representatives at any time to talk to them about the issues that matter to you. We’ve included some questions you might want to ask them on this page but feel free to talk to them about any aspect of alcohol harm that you think they can support you with. You can find all of your local representatives here.
Why alcohol harm should be a local priority
Alcohol harm affects health, crime, housing and social care. Tackling it locally can:
- Improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities
- Reduce pressure on social services and policing
- Make communities safer
- Ensure people affected by alcohol harm feel heard and represented
If you have personal experience of alcohol harm, your voice is especially powerful.
