The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church have a briefing on the 2007 Local Elections in England here. They begin by giving a very clear summary of what local elections are about:
The issue in local elections is not about how the country is run as a whole, but about how our children are educated, how our elderly are cared for, what provision is made for homeless people, what happens to our rubbish, where the planners let us build homes, offices and factories, whether we have enough open space, where our children play and how we get around
They also mention that not all parties are compatible with Christ’s teachings:
Recently there has been growing support for political parties that advocate policies of hatred and fear of racial, religious or other minorities. The Methodist and United Reformed Churches have made statements against these views, as they are incompatible with the Gospel of Christ….
Finally they list 44 (!) questions that residents could ask candidates….
…I wonder if I remembered to ask any of those 44 questions?!?