This is a crunch year for Labour in local government. Whilst most of the media focus has been on the battle for control of London, we face a tough set of elections across the country defending more seats than any of the other parties. The Labour councillors and candidates I’ve joined on the campaign trail over the past few months have been working hard to persuade their communities that our party best represents their interests.

This close to election day we don’t usually have the time to step back and reflect on winning the battle for ideas as well as votes. But at all times, I believe it is vital for Labour to demonstrate why it matters which party runs a local council.

In Gordon Brown’s speech to spring conference in Birmingham, he described ‘using the opportunity of power to unleash the power of opportunity’. And we can show that it is Labour authorities – working with a Labour government – that are striving to deliver a clear vision of the good society. It is Labour authorities that demonstrate a drive for greater fairness – in childcare, schooling, healthcare, housing, jobs and local services. It is Labour authorities that are providing community leadership, which brings diverse interests together to shape the best way forward for an area. And it is Labour authorities that want to draw more on the wealth of local expertise from outside professionals, business leaders and young people. We want town halls of all the talents.

Across the country, in the councils that Labour runs, we can see these values and vision in action. In South Tyneside, our councillors have won national awards for their innovative methods of involving local residents. In Manchester, our council has led the radical transformation of the local economy with bold regeneration projects and inventive partnerships to get local people out of long-term unemployment and back into a culture of work.

In London, we have seen the rapid impact a Labour council can have in driving up performance, with Lambeth leaping from a one-star rating inherited from the Lib Dems in 2006 to three stars this year – based on action to tackle worklessness, and improve community safety and educational outcomes.

Of course, the Tories claim a commitment to local government. But a Local Government Chronicle survey this week revealed that 90 per cent of people working in the sector think that the Conservatives have not been clear about their policies and intentions for local government.

Where Labour has focussed on investment, reform and guaranteeing standards of delivery locally, David Cameron has urged local government to ‘tear up the rules and all the ring-fencing and the auditing’, with no concern to ensure people have access to the quality of services they need or expect. With his ideas to replace public services with charity and volunteerism, Cameron betrays a traditional Tory mistrust of what the local state can achieve.

We have seen in councils across the country what happens when Tory councillors take control. They cut the services that hit the most vulnerable hardest: Barnet has cut the budgets of services that families and pensioners rely on, such as libraries and parks; Coventry is cutting funding from the children in care budget; Hammersmith and Fulham has closed a youth club, and is cutting more money from community centres and play services; Walsall has ended support for community wardens and Enfield is slashing grants to voluntary groups.

In the final days of the campaign, on 1 May and beyond, we must leave people in no doubt about what divides Labour’s vision from the Tories, and demonstrate why it matters that Labour, not the Tories, are entrusted with the opportunities of power.