Dr Jonathan Carr-West argues the importance of the EU referendum cannot be allowed to overshadow critical local elections, which could see dramatic change across British councils

It is seven weeks until the big vote. No, not that one, the other one. Yes, it's local election time again and at Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) we're gearing up for our usual in-depth coverage and analysis. We are already recruiting a network of count correspondents through the hashtag #outforthecount.