IF a week is a long time in politics, five years is an absolute eternity. With the tumultuous events at home and abroad over the last half-decade, 2012 seems like a lifetime ago in political terms.

When all the votes were counted the last time the electorate were asked to choose their local councillors, it was a close-run result. While the SNP emerged as the largest party in terms of votes and seats won, Labour retained control of the majority of Scottish councils, including Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, Fife and Aberdeen.

Of course, since then the SNP swept the board at the 2015 General Election and won a historic victory at the Scottish Parliament elections last May. We re-established a Scottish Government at Holyrood, which left the party as the undisputed voice of Scotland at Holyrood and Westminster.

Tomorrow is our chance to build on these successes, and deliver local SNP administrations in the town and city halls in each corner of our country. But even more importantly, it’s an opportunity for voters to choose progressive leadership for our councils at a time when our vital local services are at a crossroads. Tomorrow, voters have their say, and they have a clear choice between discredited and morally decrepit Labour councils, or Tory councils ideologically wedded to slashing local services.

Change is possible, but it’s not inevitable. If we want it, we have to get out and vote for it. The Ochil and South Perthshire constituency encapsulates the choice on offer across Scotland. In Clackmannanshire, it’s a straight choice between the SNP or Labour. The last Labour council resigned en masse earlier this year when they fell out with each other in a disagreement about their own budget proposals. What an absolute shambles. In Perth and Kinross, it’s a two-horse race between an SNP council committed to spending more on education and social care, and a Tory administration that has voted recently to increase bereavement charges, put up parking charges, cut local bus services and withdraw funding from the local Citizens Advice service, at the same time as voting for a council tax cut for people who own two homes.

Elsewhere in the country, recent revelations about cronyism at the heart of Labour’s administration in Glasgow, and long running allegations of malpractice at North Lanarkshire Council show the true nature of a rotten party who have lost touch with the needs and wishes of the people they were elected to represent.

In these council areas and more, the SNP have been the only party putting forward positive proposals to improve the lives of people who live there, in the face of a negative campaign specifically designed to deflect attention from the poor local record of the other parties.

The SNP are fielding a record-level 627 candidates in tomorrow’s election, and their diversity is representative of our values of equality and inclusion.

When you go to the ballot box tomorrow, you have a chance to make a positive choice about the future of your local area.

SNP candidates are committed to providing more free child care for our youngest citizens in order to transform early learning. We will plan to spend extra cash in our school classrooms, so that we can close the attainment gap that stifles pupils’ potential and ensure that every child in Scotland gets the best start in life. We’ll also increase the building of affordable homes, improving supply and ensuring those who need local homes are able to access them.
And we plan to give away some of the powers already held by councils, in order to give communities a greater say in deciding which local projects receive local authority funding.

With the SNP in control, at least one per cent of each council’s budget will go directly to communities in this way. We hope this will help encourage local people and organisations to come up with innovative ways to deliver on their own individual priorities.

There will also be backing for small business, boosting jobs and helping keep people in work. Small businesses will continue to benefit from the extended small business bonus scheme and councils will also be able to offer rate reductions to meet local economic challenges. We will also increase government spending with local small and medium-sized firms, revising procurement strategies to help local firms thrive. If protecting local services and jobs matters to you, be a voter tomorrow. Make a plan today to get to the polling station to cast your ballot, and make sure you don’t miss out on your personal chance to make a difference. Tomorrow will be a historic day in local politics in Scotland. Make sure you play your part in it.