Steve Reed, the local government secretary, boasted to council leaders this week that it will “deliver the most ambitious reforms of local government in a generation”. But what for? Local government reform wasn’t in the manifesto. Until it was legally challenged – because the reorganisation would have delayed local elections in 30 places in England – it barely featured on the political horizon because it had no political purpose. Few people know much about what responsibilities fall to different layers of local authority and national government – which is why mayors are a good idea, putting an identifiable person in charge. Few people bother to vote: average council election turnout in 2024 was 30.8%, not much changed over recent decades. There was scant political mileage in this, but great organisational risk.